McClatchy/Marist shows HRC's lead plummeting from 62-11 over her closest competitor to 60-13, mostly post-blowup. http://t.co/xibB6go4l4
— Sean T at RCP (@SeanTrende) March 8, 2015
Before any knickers get knotted, make sure the snark meters are properly calibrated.
And then look to the (Not Very) Loyal Opposition, as described by the NYTimes:
In their first major test of governing this year, Republicans stumbled, faltered — and nearly shut down the Department of Homeland Security.
And that vote may have been the easy one.
In April, physicians who treat Medicare patients face a drastic cut in pay. In May, the Highway Trust Fund runs dry. In June, the charter for the federal Export-Import Bank ceases to exist. Then in October, across-the-board spending cuts return, the government runs out of money — and the Treasury bumps up against its borrowing limit.
All will require congressional action, and while many of these measures used to be pushed through in an almost unthinking bipartisan ritual, there is no such thing as simple in Congress anymore.
“We really don’t have 218 votes to determine a bathroom break over here on our side,” said Representative Charlie Dent, a Pennsylvania Republican. “So how are we going to get 218 votes on transportation, or trade, or whatever the issue? We might as well face the political reality of our circumstances and then act accordingly.”…
That would explain all the soiled diapers, I guess.
While we’re stocking up on cleaning supplies & earplugs, what’s on the agenda for the start of the new week?
Hal
Reminds me of that story about Obama losing support from African Americans when he went from something like 92 to 90 percent.
OzarkHillbilly
Oh Noes, whatever will our poor insurance overlords do for profits when self driving cars go mainstream?
It’s not just insurers who are worried about fewer collisions. LKQ Corp, a parts company, has warned in its regulatory filings that with improved technology, “the number and severity of accidents could decrease, which could have a material adverse effect on our business”.
BillinGlendaleCA
I believe we’ll run into the debt ceiling first, Treasury has to start “extraordinary measures” next week.
I’m glad I watch “Morning Joe”, cause I learned that every email account has it’s own server. Google, Microsoft, and Apple must have 10’s of millions of servers. I never knew. I guess if I need to add another email account to my mail server; I’ll have to get a new computer. This could get expensive.
Keith G
During our illogically long election process, candidates gain and lose ground not unlike the action at a competitive tennis match or basketball game. Leads increase, shrinks, disappear and increase again.
If there are no hidden bombs lurking in her email cache, this will probably be a blip in six months.
She should not have done this. Yes other SoS had, but HRC took the SoS job as a way to increase her chances to be president.
Repatriated
@OzarkHillbilly: Which raises an interesting question. How are insurers going to assess risk when the driver’s demographics and driving record no longer affect the probability of a mishap?
Keith G
@OzarkHillbilly: I find this interesting, in that US business is not usually known for long term planning and this is a very long term problem.
On the other hand, since self-driving cars will be a bit expensive, there will be a huge incentive to keep repairing older lower tech autos to keep them on the road.
Alex S.
The Hillary campaign will break this blog!
OzarkHillbilly
Global warming my a$$:
As light rain washed away the imported snow at Saturday’s ceremonial start of the 43rd Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in downtown Anchorage…
The ceremonial start is the festive, photogenic and locally lucrative pageant held before the race starts for real 81 miles up the highway in Willow the next day. But this year dismal snow conditions forced officials to relocate another 295 miles north to Fairbanks, fundamentally altering the route originally used in the 1925 serum run to Nome …
“If I have one more person tell me to move the Iditarod to Boston,” said race marshall Mark Nordman, shaking his head with a sigh
Kay
The nice part of their reliance on polls is if the (alleged) crisis doesn’t show up in polls they (generally) don’t keep beating the drum as a crisis and it goes to “there are questions..” which would be the norm for Hillary Clinton.
It’s not always true. They said Sarah Palin was popular long past the time she polled well. A couple of years, really. They propped her up forever.
We might get “both sides do it” on the Clinton Foundation, too. Jeb Bush has an extremely hinky “education foundation”. A reporter in Maine won a journalism award in 2012 after suing for emails and writing a series on it. Bush’s foundation lobbies on state law but I have no idea where the funding comes from.
Repatriated
@Keith G: Yep, the installed base (so to speak) of driver-driven cars is going to be around for a while. I don’t think even Google, Apple, and Microsoft combined could buy enough pols to actually ban non-automated autos.
Repatriated
@Alex S.: That’s one for the rotating tag-line list…
Mustang Bobby
@BillinGlendaleCA:
They also think you have to have a separate telephone line for every number you call. Hello, Central?
Repatriated
@Mustang Bobby: “Is this the party to whom I am speaking?”
OzarkHillbilly
@Repatriated: I suspect by locale more than anything else.
@Keith G: The harder thing I see in their future is how do they continue to insure coastal property after half of Florida disappears beneath the waves despite their GOP codependents’ repeated insistence’s that if they just don’t say the words “climate change”, it won’t happen.
Either way, something tells me the insurance companies will be just fine.
Raven
@OzarkHillbilly: I have a friend who took her kids up there Friday (Anchorage). They got there and her drivers license expired so no rental car. They took a bus to the resort, no snow, just ice and they had hoped to see the Iditorod ceremony. Zip!
BillinGlendaleCA
@Repatriated: Nah, the iCar will just impress the pols so much that they’ll vote to ban everything else.
danielx
That would be the political reality that, election to the US Congress notwithstanding, there’s a caucus of 52 Republicans in the House who are not interested in governing nor in getting anything done except opposing Barack Obama and all his works, extended to opposing the New Deal and associated programs. The political reality is that in order to get anything at all done over the next two years in the way of keeping the doors open, as it were, Republicans in the House and Senate are going to have to have at least some Democratic votes. Going to be a lot of dental work ongoing as House Republicans grind their molars down to the gumline…
Derelict
I guess with the Democrats unable to act as an effective opposition part, the Republicans had to build one in the basement. Too bad the new opposition party isn’t interested in problem solving–only in demonstrating its burning hatred of the American government.
JPL
OT.. SAE fraternity closed it’s chapter at University of Oklahoma after a video appeared to show the members singing a racist chant. Why are news medias saying appeared, when it did show the group singing a racist chant. Also why blur the faces of the members who are obviously singing a racist chant. The good news is that video will follow those members forever.
JPL
@Derelict: Love America but hate democracy.
Patricia Kayden
@JPL: http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/09/us/oklahoma-fraternity-chant/
Charming kids and so representative of post-racial America.
OzarkHillbilly
@Raven: I blame Obama.
JPL
@Patricia Kayden: Good for CNN. There should be no appeared or apparently when reporting the incident. I assume that SAE won’t be mentioned on the resumes of the graduates.
Hawes
I have a former student who works for Charlie Dent.
He’d welcome a Third Party if it was feasible.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Patricia Kayden:
But, but&mdssh;I keep being told that all our problems will be solved when the old racists die off!
mai naem mobile
I don’t understand people, especially younger people who arw supposed to be more social media and texh savvy, who say obivously offensive stuff on videos,,photos, social media and email. Why would you do that? This isn’t some debatable stuff . This is just plain offensive stuff.
Iowa Old Lady
@BillinGlendaleCA: Which one of the scholars over there said that?
Germy Shoemangler
@Steeplejack (phone): Yeah, I hear that again and again… “once all the old fox news watchers die off, they’ll be replaced by the new generation full of love and tolerance”
And then I see the bus video, and I’m reminded that for every old racist that dies, three new ones are born. Douchey college kid with a tuxedo, chanting lynching songs. A future Breitbart contributor?
Germy Shoemangler
Every morning at 7 I turn on the ABC morning show and I learned that Hillary’s presidential chances are finished. “Unprecedented” private mail for government business. Meanwhile, Jeb is surging ahead.
It was a special report from Jon Karl. It looked like a political ad for Jeb.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Iowa Old Lady: Joe AND Mika.
JPL
@Germy Shoemangler: After having his picture posted for all to see, I’m not sure Breitbart would hire him. His parents must be so proud.
Germy Shoemangler
@JPL: They blurred his face on “Good Morning America”
Not sure why.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Germy Shoemangler: Well, Jeb!!! turned over all his emails as required under Fla law, except the ones he didn’t.
MattF
Wingers assume that everyone, deep down, hates the Clintons just like they do (and Obama too, of course). And then, reality occurs. And then, back to square one. Over and over again.
danielx
@OzarkHillbilly:
Whaddya talking about? Rick Scott is going to stand on the beach and command the waters to roll back, like Moses or King Canute.
Germy Shoemangler
Re: “Good Morning America” – What’s the deal with host George Steph? What goes through his mind when he sees a report from Jon Karl that is full of half-truths and outright lies?
Did he have a falling out with the Clintons? I don’t know the backstory.
debbie
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Not to mention all those SS numbers.
The Ancient Randonneur
@Steeplejack (phone):
I remember when the future would be filled with love, war would be a thing of the past,,and justice for all would prevail, because the kids were all hippies. It was a matter of time because of a Great Demographic Shift! That answer, my friend, is still blowing in the wind.
JPL
@Germy Shoemangler: Ratings.
OzarkHillbilly
@The Ancient Randonneur: “The best lack all conviction while the worst are filled with passionate intensity.”
Anne Laurie
@Germy Shoemangler:
Karl started his career as a College Republican. In a decent society, this would be noted every time he “reports” the news.
@Germy Shoemangler:
There is a reason Charles P. Pierce always refers to Stephanopoulus as ‘The Clinton Guy Shocked by Blowjobs’ — GS was an early defector.
Germy Shoemangler
@Anne Laurie: Ahh, I see. Then he’s loving every minute of Jon Karl’s reports.
Kay
@Germy Shoemangler:
The Bush family are vicious campaigners. That really cannot be over-stated at the outset. He’ll do anything to win, up to and including limiting voting and stopping vote counts, just as his brother did.
I keep thinking about how they put that anti-same sex marriage initiative on the ballot in states prior to 2004. Between that and the “War On Terror” maniacs among the Bush faithful it was just a horrible, mean-spirited, fear-driven election. This will be like that.
MattF
@Kay: That’s a good point. Now that Jeb! is in the game, we can expect Rovian tactics. In fact, I suspect that with all the candidates running for the GOP nom, the sewer will be getting crowded
askew
Her head to head numbers against GOP have started falling since December. The main argument for Hillary as our nominee is that she polls so much better than other Dems. Except other Dems don’t have the name recogonition she does. Let’s see where she’s at at the end of the year. She isn’t a politician who wears well with voters. Her numbers will fall as she spends more time in the public eye campaigning.
OzarkHillbilly
@MattF: Well, if the use Rovian math, we got nothing to worry about.
askew
@Keith G:
Other SoS’s didn’t keep a personal server outside the government system nor did any other cabinet head in Obama admin.
When Obama says in an interview that he was not informed of Hillary’s unusual email set-up prior to her starting the job that’s an issue.
When Feinstein who is a loyal Hillary supporter comes out and says Hillary needs to disclose all emails and answer questions to resolve this, it is a big deal.
And when Bill Clinton is already out there poorly defending the taking of donations by foreign governments to the Clinton Foundation, it’s going to get messy.
sharl
@Kay: Someone here recently linked to a Digby post at Salon – where she largely made the same case as you did at #9 above – and Digby in turn linked a short WaPo oped by Carter Eskew, The Insiders: The Picasso that hit Hillary Clinton:
[My only problem with Digby’s piece is the title, “Hillary scandal’s hidden truth: How the Beltway media embarrassed itself — again “. The Beltway media generally has no sense of shame, and is therefore rarely capable of embarrassment.]
Patricia Kayden
@askew: Well, I’m sure that Hillary will disclose all emails and answer questions to resolve this tempest in a teapot. This shouldn’t derail her candidacy — unless those of us who would vote for her go crazy and don’t care if a Republican wins in 2016. I don’t see any other potential Democratic candidate in the wings if Secretary Clinton doesn’t run.
bemused
Who would have imagined that Republicans would ever openly say things like they don’t have 218 votes to determine a bathroom break.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota GOP chairman Downey called for the entire projected budget surplus, $1.86 billion, to be returned to taxpayers. Tues the party had a conference call voting on and approving a six figure campaign on a new “give it all back” campaign with goal of “exciting” donors to contribute to MNGOP. Downey pledged dedicating 25% of money generated by campaign to pay their 2014 election bills.
Baud
@Anne Laurie:
So Bill gets a blow job and George hates Hillary?
MattF
@bemused: Because… it’s just inconceivable that, sometime in the future, the state may need to tap saved funds. Inconceivable!
MattF
@Baud: Because… Hillary forgave Bill. Inconceivable!
Baud
@bemused:
It’s amazing how highly Scott Walker is regarded given how often Minnesota seems to put Wisconsin to shame.
Snarki, child of Loki
@Keith G: “If there are no hidden bombs lurking in her email cache, this will probably be a blip in six months.”
Rumor has it that Hillary was in secret email negotiations with the widow of a deposed Nigerian general, seeking to free up some frozen bank accounts.
By ‘negotiations’, I mean ‘they write to her, she ignores it’.
The House committee investigating BENGHAZI!!!1! should get in contact with that widow, I’m sure if Issa would only send his bank account information, the widow would be happy to come to DC and dish out all the dirt on Hillary, you betcha.
Snarki, child of Loki
@bemused: “Who would have imagined that Republicans would ever openly say things like they don’t have 218 votes to determine a bathroom break.”
Sen Vitter. He was in the House in his younger days. When he was in ‘diapers’, if you will.
Anne Laurie
@Baud: I remember Mr. S explaining, for the record, that perhaps if Hillary had been a better wife who did not allow herself to get distracted by politics, then this disgrace to the Democratic party’s reputation blahblahblah. But my google-fu is not stronge enough to resurrect an online link, and it’s well past my bedtime, so I could have George mixed up with another Ustabe Dem of that period.
Baud
@Anne Laurie: Well, as long as his justification is rational and not offensive…
Baud
@MattF:
I too despise Christian forgiveness.
NonyNony
@danielx:
The problem is that the Republican politicians have pretty much lost control of their party at this point. Any pols who work with Democrats will be primaried and slaughtered in the next GOP primary.
What’s more, a bill that 50 some Democrats will vote for while 50 some Republicans identified as “real Republicans” refuse to vote for will be marked out as “not Republican”, causing more Republicans who aren’t part of that core radical constituency to jump ship.
It’s an ugly reality – I don’t see a way out of it short of either Democrats getting a majority in the House in 2016 or somehow the far right getting so discredited that the nutbags have to crawl back under their rock for a generation. Sadly I don’t see either of those happening anytime soon.
askew
@Patricia Kayden:
We’ll see. Considering there are FOIA requests from 2010 that Hillary is still stonewalling on, I am not convinced that Hillary is going to turn anything else over or answer any questions on this.
Sending out Lanny Davis and Ed Rendell to spin this story and staying silent herself it just dumb politics. If she wants to get ahead of this story, then she should do an interview ASAP and get this behind her. The longer Team Hillary stonewalls, the longer this story lingers.
Kay
@MattF:
I wonder about Jeb though. I know liberals didn’t see the appeal, but “W” had the ability to act as if he wasn’t “political” and I don’t think Jeb has that. I think he’s 100% ambition.
They just have such an extensive network of powerful people, the Bush family. Of course the Clintons do too, but they don’t have the generational aspect, the cumulative investment over generations.
cmm
Every time I see another excited article/video about the imminent arrival of self-driving cars, I flash back to the novel Robopocalypse that I read last year (very good book, BTW, and under development with Spielberg as a movie). Near future apocalypse in which everything is automated and interconnected, AI’s become sentient and set about killing off humans. Indelible scene of self-driving cars deliberately crashing into each other, driving into walls and off bridges, with screaming helpless occupants banging on windows and trying to open the doors. I’ll remain a vehicle luddite, thanks.
OzarkHillbilly
@askew: The thing that gets me is all the people who are now saying they didn’t know she had a private e-mail account. Not a single person in gov’t or outside of gov’t has stepped forward and said, “I knew.”
Not a single investigator from any of the Benghazi investigations figured it out? Really?
Obama didn’t know? Really?
All the people who corresponded with her over those years didn’t know? Really?
I don’t know about anyone else, but I ain’t buying it.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly:
It’s
all
bullshit
over
Gene108
From the NYT link up top.
It is crazy that one Party knows people do not like their agenda, but somehow manage to keep the worst of their intentions from registering with the American people.
MattF
@Kay: Yeah, I think Jeb!’s ambition and amorality is the real lesson of the Schiavo mess– but I don’t see a way to make that point in a 30-second PSA.
askew
@OzarkHillbilly:
That isn’t true. The Benghazi investigators realized she had a private email and the WH found out after Hillary turned over her emails for the investigation.
And I’d guess that Hillary and Obama weren’t exchanging emails. They were talking in person, via phone or the emails were going through their subordinates.
Quite frankly it doesn’t matter that WH didn’t figure it out. It was on Hillary to tell her boss if she was going to deviate from the guidelines Obama put in place for his admin.
It’s quite clear from the WH interviews so far that Hillary did this without clearing it with her boss, that this set-up was not used for any other admin personnel and that they are not happy about it and are not going to cover for her.
It does sound like Hillary had a little fiefdom going within the admin and that there wasn’t a lot of communication between her team and the WH. Maybe one of the reasons why so many major foreign policy achievements in first term were carried out via Obama and Biden and not Hillary?
Kay
@NonyNony:
They couldn’t pass their own education bill out of the House, and (essentially) the same bill passed in 2012. They don’t even understand “federalism” anymore. It doesn’t mean you take the federal money but accept no federal regulations along with it. It means you reject the federal ROLE, which includes funding. Of course it includes funding. That’s the leverage.
Elizabelle
Have you noticed that Charlie Dent is getting a lot of quotetime at the NYTimes lately?
He is their political writers’ holy grail — a sane-sounding Republican. Jon Huntsman lite.
Not snarking; he seems to be a decent guy.
PS: like Hawes, I’ve noticed it because I crossed paths with Charlie years before his political career – very nice guy IRL, and have a friend who works for him.
Kay
@MattF:
Clinton will be somewhat hemmed in going after him because she has appeared at his edu-forums and praised him. Obama has too, and it wasn’t that long ago.
MattF
@Elizabelle: Certainly preferable to Peter King, who doesn’t really ring true as a voice of sanity.
bemused
@Snarki, child of Loki:
As I recall, the LA republicans basically gave Vitter a standing ovation when they refused to censure him at the time. Reporters could hear the loud cheering from outside the doors. Makes me want to puke.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Yep, always was. You could tell by all the cries of shock, horror, and dismay from all the people who either knew, or should have known.
max
@raven:
It’s
all
bullshit
over
Roger that.
max
[‘Out.’]
Kay
So if Democrats want an agenda that would counter Republicans on working people, they could add this:
“Over the past decade, state after state has been dismantling America’s workers’ comp system with disastrous consequences for many of the hundreds of thousands of people who suffer serious injuries at work each year, a ProPublica and NPR investigation has found.
The cutbacks have been so drastic in some places that they virtually guarantee injured workers will plummet into poverty. Workers often battle insurance companies for years to get the surgeries, prescriptions and basic help their doctors recommend.”
There’s two connections to the federal role. Workers Comp used to be overseen by the federal government, and the gutting of Worker’s Comp has pushed people into the Social Security disability program, which makes that program over-burdened and is (another) public subsidy to employers.
They have an agenda. They can do overtime, minimum wage, sick leave and Workers Comp. If they want to :)
Botsplainer
@cmm:
Here’s my thing about automated cars – for a period of time, they would be sharing the road with garden variety drivers. How can a robot tell if the driver next to you is eating a sandwich and texting while rolling along, looking like a moron? How will the robot deal with the brake-burning two footed driver just ahead?
max
Trende:
Plummeted! Fallen like Icarus from a clear blue sky, struck down by the very life-giving light of the sun, falling falling falling…
…down to a number of votes that only LBJ ’64 would have considered a fall, and that would result in 520+ electoral votes.
max
[‘Oh the inanity. This is just terrible.’]
bemused
@MattF:
Yeah, the 2007 bridge collapse is so yesterday.
The reporting of MNGOP plans to disappear our surplus was reported by Michael Brodkorb who was a hard hitting, high up guy in the MNGOP and top aide to a couple of senators. He took no prisoners. One senator was Amy Koch, Senate Speaker. When and he and Amy Koch who was married at the time had an affair, MN Republicans threw both of them under the bus. Brodkorb didn’t and hasn’t gone quietly and now reports what Republicans are up to in a blog politics.mn.
askew
@OzarkHillbilly:
This article does a good job of laying out why it would not be surprising if Hillary and Obama never exchanged emails. It looks like Obama wasn’t allowed to exchange emails with cabinet heads at all.
As for those #s that Anne is trumpeting as some kind of accomplishment, everyone knows those are just for the nomination right? Her numbers are falling against the GOP.
Punchy
@JPL: This is Oklahoma. A racist chant is a feature, not a bug.
Having said that, I’d be stunned if these students are not expelled from the Univsersity. This wasn’t just one cracker using a N-bomb; it was a song that implied lynching and was sung with gusto. U of O needs to make a very public show of punishment here.
WaterGirl
@Punchy: Did you mean to say “are expelled” or “aren’t expelled”?
rikyrah
You don’t think Chuy has Rahm scared?
Oh Yes.
Background on this. The Chicago Equivalent of the Ferguson Police Tickets is the Red Light Camera. They are a scam. They are a fraud. They are $100 DOLLAR TICKETS. And, if you get 2 of them, the City can BOOT YOUR CAR.
So, while they proliferated on the South and West Sides (where the Black and Brown people live), they were rare to be found on the North side (where the White people live). And, when they WERE found on the North side, guess what…those stoplight, has COUNTDOWN CLOCKS with them, so the driver knew how much or little time they had until the light changed. When the South and West sides asked…’where are OUR countdown clocks’, we were told there wasn’t enough money to outfit all the stoplights with countdown clocks.
Then there was the little matter of the CRIMINAL BRIBERY CASE brought up on the company who initially got the contract for the red lights by PAYING A TWO MILLION DOLLAR BRIBE FOR THE CONTRACT.
STILL, no slowdown in rolling out the red lights. No consideration for those of us out here questioning it.
There has been a radio talk show host on WVON (the Black talk radio station), who has made it his mission to get rid of these things. He started a group, began collecting signatures. Got over 100,000 signatures to put red lights on the ballot as a referendum, but, of course, they found a way not to put it on the ballot. He’s gone around the country, getting all sorts of experts to come in and take up this legal battle. It’s now at the Illinois Supreme Court. LIke others, I never thought he’d get anywhere with it, but I supported him all the way.
Then, there was the matter of the Chicago Tribune expose about 3-4 months ago. At all sorts of intersections, there were spikes in the volume of tickets being given at redlight cameras. Like, 25-50 times their usual rates. When brought to the attention of the Mayor’s Office, they had nothing to say, and of course, they were of the mind that nobody was going to get their money back for the fraudulent tickets.
The radio host has gone around this time, getting actual pledges from Alermanic Candidates to vote out the red light cameras. And, current Aldermen that won’t, are being called on the carpet by vocal constituents.
Finally, last week, Mr. Chuy Garcia said that he would get rid of the program altogether.
So, that brings us to this story.
……………..
Mayor Announces Removal of 50 Red Light Cameras Amid New Reforms
The announcement comes after mayoral candidate Jesus “Chuy” Garcia promised last week to remove all of the red-light cameras in Chicago
Today, the countdown clock officially began on the red light program in Chicago,” Garcia said in a statement. “In less than a month, voters will have the chance to end Rahm Emanuel’s red light rip-off.”
The 50 cameras in question had not yet been taken down as of Sunday, but they stopped giving tickets at 12:01 a.m. Friday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. After the removal of these red light cameras, 302 of them will remain at nearly 150 intersections.
In addition to removing several cameras, Emanuel announced new reforms for the program. These included required public community meetings before a camera is removed, moved or installed; outlining a plan to install pedestrian countdown timers at all cameras without timers; and providing first-time offenders the opportunity to enroll in online safety traffic classes instead of paying the $100 fine.
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/City-Officials-to-Announce-Removal-of-50-Red-Light-Cameras-295534061.html#ixzz3TtZ9ku5z
Follow us: @nbcchicago on Twitter | nbcchicago on Facebook
OzarkHillbilly
@askew:
Really? You are buying the rank incompetence (or outright stupidity) on the part of every single person in the WH story? Because the only other possible explanation is that nobody in the WH ever corresponded with her via email.
And not on anyone in his admin, to inform the boss that one of his top people is breaking his rules? So that even if Obama didn’t know, it is only because…
Look, Obama has never struck me as stupid, or willfully ignorant, or as a terrible judge of character. He is however a politician. And sometimes politicians make deals with the devil (in a figurative sense) and tell a non-truth in service of a larger goal. What it might be here, I don’t know.
Doesn’t really matter, he either (a) knew, or (b) could have and should have. If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on (a).
@askew: Let’s just leave it at “I may not be able to know the Truth ™, but I’m not buying any of the stories I am being sold (by every person with an axe to grind or an ass to be covered).”
askew
I didn’t realize Hillary’s favorability #s have already fallen down below 50%. That is really a problem for Dems. Anyone who thinks Hillary is going to skate to a general election win with #s that are already at 2012 Romney/Obama #s is crazy. By 2016, she may be unelectable if her favorable #s keep falling. We definitely need some alternative choices and Hillary needs to find something to run on besides being inevitable because she is clearly far from that.
SFAW
@Elizabelle:
But Red Sox fans will still hate him.
sharl
@rikyrah: That’s a great account of a bad situation – yep, very Ferguson-like…and Bed-Stuy–like…and Oakland-like…etc. If the election is working to stop that crap, then it’s an example of the power of elections for providing impetus for corrective actions.
Based on what little I know, I still hope Chuy wins, since Rahm seems fully capable of going back on promises, if he is returned to office.
By the way, are you still under doctor’s orders to avoid stress? I hope diving into stuff like this isn’t contrary to that advice. [Please take care of yourself; it’s good having you around.]
Yatsuno
@max: OH THE HUGE MANATEES!!!
Botsplainer
While we’re obsessing on Hillary’s emails, this happened outside Atlanta:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2984054/Garbage-man-thrown-jail-30-days-getting-work-early-annoying-residents-wealthy-Atlanta-suburb-houses-professional-athletes-rap-star.html?ito=social-facebook
A lovely gated community, I’m sure, with privatized police and courts sentenced a man to thirty days in jail for collecting trash pursuant to his company’s contract before 7 AM, spurring 911 calls for noise violations.
Rather than act embarrassed, the city attorney doubled down in justifying it. Pasty, pudgy corn-pone cocksucker is going to have a world of hurt.
rikyrah
@askew:
This is why I never bought into Hillary in 2008. When half the country says that they won’t even consider voting for you, that’s a problem. And this is BEFORE the GOP spends 2 billion dollars against her.
She is toxic and has too much baggage.
rikyrah
@sharl:
Yes, I’m trying to manage my stress better. Thanks for asking.
Like you, I don’t trust Rahm. At all.
Elizabelle
@rikyrah: I agree. I think we’d be better served with another woman candidate. I am very nervous about all the eggs in the Hillary basket. Put her on as VP, if she will do it.
I am not sure she’s electable. We cannot lose the White House in 2016. Supreme Court appointments. We must hold the White House.
askew
@rikyrah:
Yep, I’ve been saying that for years. Her favorability #s were inflated because she was out of the public eye as SoS for the most part and she wasn’t involved in politics. Now the public is remembering why they don’t like her and those #s are baked in. They aren’t going to change.
We’d be better off with a candidate who doesn’t have all that baggage and low favorable ratings set in stone already.
Betty Cracker
@Botsplainer: Two questions: If it’s a gated community, why doesn’t it keep the gates shut to garbage trucks prior to 7 AM? Sounds like the rent-a-cop in the guard shack needs to do hard time! Also, its it legal to “privatize” municipal courts?
WaterGirl
@rikyrah: I was never a Rahm hater when he worked for the president, but I’m from Chicago and I hope Rahm gets skewered in the upcoming mayoral election.
C.V. Danes
Uh, well, there used to be this strategy called compromise. You might want to try it out sometime.
OzarkHillbilly
@Botsplainer: I loved these parts:
Ms Prince added that Waste Management, which operates throughout the US and reported $14billion in revenue in 2014, would coordinate with its employee about his work schedule and jail time.
Well. That’s mighty White of you.
Ms Bandoh said that the sentence was originally for 30 straight days before someone in the court spoke up and said that McGill should continue working and collecting the suburb’s trash.
Yes, mighty White of you too.
askew
@Elizabelle:
No woman is going to run against Hillary. She has all of the women’s groups that help female candidates raise money already locked up. Warren would be the only one who stands a chance. And she clearly has zero interest in running for president.
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly: I’m pretty down on Clinton for having been stupid enough, or tone deaf enough, to intentionally circumvent the email guidelines, policies and procedures that were in place for everyone’s protection, including hers.
But in the middle of 2 wars, Iran, ISIL, and fill in the other 25 crises here, someone was really supposed to jump up and down and tell the president that Hillary isn’t following the email rules?
That isn’t to say that someone in State shouldn’t have told someone, but I don’t see this needing to have happened on the presidential level.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: They’re Capitalists. Everything is for sale. Grandma too.
Elizabelle
@askew: And that’s what’s so appalling. It’s not about Hillary.
It’s about us.
We cannot lose the White House if she can’t win the election. And she’s got some serious headwinds. Plus, she’s the only focus for fire by the media and Picassolike fake story placers.
WaterGirl
@askew: I’m with you on wanting O’Malley to run and wanting other candidates to run against Clinton, and it will be a depressing day when Hillary Clinton is who I have to vote for after Obama.
I would surely be reflected in a poll as an “unfavorable” for Hillary Clinton, but damn, I will surely vote for her if she’s the democratic nominee. So I don’t think unfavorable in this case necessarily translates into not voting or voting for another candidate.
Edit to ask: what counts as unfavorable? If it’s “I won’t vote for her”, then what I said above is irrelevant. If it’s “I don’t like her”, then I stand by what i wrote.
boatboy_srq
More reason to block-grant Medicare and SocSec, and to end “entitlements” for Those Other (Lazy) People. (/snark)
I’m beginning to wonder whether there is a disconnect here, or whether the GOTea actually thinks shrinking Big Gubmint while stopping any discussions of AGCC or wealth inequality (or whatever) is a practical strategy since all of Those People will have drowned or starved and won’t need the jobs that robotics and drones and self-driving vehicles will make unnecessary.
different-church-lady
@OzarkHillbilly: I really love that people are naive enough to believe self-driving cars won’t have accidents.
different-church-lady
@Keith G:
Six months? That’s gotta be at least 180 “HOW COULD SHE BE SO STUPID AND THE MEDIA AGREES WITH ME!” Cole posts.
askew
@WaterGirl:
When her #s are already at Obama and Romney’s 2012 levels, we need to worry because they are going to fall once real campaigning starts.
The problem is that with those #s she isn’t going to be able to get crossover votes and some of our fickle base may stay home.
But, you are right that this poll could reflect a lack of enthusiasm on the Dems part as well, which isn’t good this far out either.
Favorability polls are just that. They don’t say that respondents won’t vote for her, just that they don’t view her favorably. The problem lies in that there is a strong correlation between politicians with low favorable ratings losing.
And it isn’t like Hillary is an unknown at this point. There are going to be very few persuadable voters if Hillary runs.
Germy Shoemangler
@different-church-lady: My computer never crashes, why would my computer-driven car? (joking)
I wonder what happens to my neighborhood mechanic, whose team can handle oil changes, some brake work and tire changes. Will they all need degrees in computer science?
different-church-lady
@Patricia Kayden:
Shit… she’d doomed.
OzarkHillbilly
@WaterGirl: As Secretary of State, who did Clinton answer to?
boatboy_srq
@Betty Cracker: They probably eliminated the guard at the entry in favor of a cardswipe stanchion. Of course that would make McGill’s entry a problem for the security vendor, since they should have been able to restrict his access to the allowed collection window. I’m sure that nobody thought to address that with the vendor, though. Gated communities really are becoming the 21st century’s walled cities.
ETA: How typical to hold the employee accountable and not the business.
Germy Shoemangler
I’d be somewhat nervous riding in a self-driving car in a country where repubs have eviscerated all regulatory controls. “The cars inspected themselves!”
askew
@Elizabelle:
A big part of the problem was the liberal media and blogs refusing to talk about any other potential nominees and let Hillary suck up all the media oxygen. Talking about Warren is a waste of time. She was never going to run. She hates politics and had to be practically forced to run for the senate.
But, you are starting to see the media cover O’Malley and Webb. They are mostly sneering at both but at least they are getting some coverage now. It’s hard to build up name recognition when you are in a media blackout.
OzarkHillbilly
@Germy Shoemangler: They already do.
@askew: I find her baked in #s (as you pointed out) far more problematic than any of this e-mail stuff.
askew
@OzarkHillbilly:
Are you seriously trying to blame Obama for Hillary not following email protocols? Lordy, nothing is ever her fault. The whole reason for bringing Hillary in at SoS was that she had so much experience that Obama wouldn’t have to micromanage her and handhold her through the process. If less experience cabinet heads managed to follow the rules just fine, why couldn’t she? And how are we supposed to elect her president when she can’t even manage to get something easy like this right?
Botsplainer
@boatboy_srq:
Guards at entries cost money. Can’t have that.
boatboy_srq
@Germy Shoemangler: Considering how digified modern cars are, a lot of that’s happening already: customers can roll in with their diagnostic codes already in hand and translated, and the mechanics have to hook up their own test equipment to identify the proper fixes and confirm them once applied. “Finding the problem” is on its way to the auto history dustbin right along with the crooked mechanic. There are good reasons that routine maintenance costs are headed for $100/hr plus territory. OTOH, it does mean that, if cars get much more sophisticated, the average low-info driver is probably going to begin demanding satisfaction (pistols-at-sunrise grade satisfaction at that) when their mechanics present them with a diagnostic-and-debug bill close to the cost of the vehicle.
boatboy_srq
@Botsplainer: Because non-human, electronic security is so much more reliable and safe…
Gex
@Repatriated: I’m sure they will get numbers for each make and model and be able to associate that with the specific AI that was involved in a crash.
KG
@OzarkHillbilly: Top Gear actually had a rather interesting question (yes, I am aware of how insane those words sound) about self-driving cars recently. Basically, the issue is, how will the self driving cars make moral decisions… For example, the car in front of you has a blow out and you don’t have enough space to stop. Two choices, you hit the car with the blow out and possibly kill yourself and/or the people in the car with the blow out, or you swerve and hit a group of pedestrians. What does the computer do?
Just Some Fuckhead
OMG, I saw Lanny Davis defending HRC over the weekend and nearly lost it. I don’t know how long I can hold onto the charade of supporting HRC and the hideous people surrounding her.
OzarkHillbilly
@askew: HAHAHAHAAHHAAA…
Answer the question.
Elizabelle
Does anyone believe that Lindsey Graham has never sent an email? Didn’t he say something along those lines?
Is that even possible, for someone who was recently an Air Force officer? Believe he was a JAG?
different-church-lady
The internet, 2027: “OMG! YOUR SELF-DRIVING CAR KNOWS EVERYWHERE YOU’VE GONE IN IT!!!”
MomSense
If y’all think this email stuff is fun, just wait till we get to dodging sniper fire in Bosnia. At least O’Reilly won’t say anything about it.
scav
@KG: My gut reaction is it will perform whichever of the options has been programmatically designated as having the highest value of “success” — success having been defined by a group of people thrashing out examples and implications beforehand. So they’d be the ones handling the moral tradeoffs and with the luxury of time and head-rattling counterexamples, rather than the one person at the wheel doing it in real time.
Woodrowfan
anything emailed between the Secretary of State and the president would have been classified, so it would have gone through the government secured email system, not a private non-government account.
JPL
@Botsplainer: My son lives in Sandy Springs and you have to contract your own pickup. John Lewis is his representative so that’s good.
I live north in Roswell and the city contracts trash pickup. You have to put your trash out after 6 pm the night before and pickup isn’t before 8 am. I often put my trash out earlier and haven’t been fined yet but maybe I should be more careful.
J R in WV
I don’t have a clue who can save the Democratic party (we, us, ourselves) from Ms Clinton. I had a high regard for Bill and Hil back when he was under mass attack by Republicans (and some Dems) and refused to admit that he had ever cheated on his wife – that was intended to protect her and was pretty gallant if you asked me.
But I think that the hundreds of millions of dollars (much of that money being ours, tax dollars from Democrats!) that the Republicans spent on generating distaste and hatred for one of the better presidents we have had and his family is now paying off a little, and she may well become unelectable between now and the elections in 2016.
And I fear for the nation if all the branches of government fall into the hands of people too stupid to understand simple scientific rules, the addition and subtraction necessary to budget, facts of ordinary life, and such things that seem to be far beyond the feeble skills of the Republicans now in total control of one branch of the national government.
Here in West Virginia, the Republicans in total control of stat4e government for the first time since 1932 are showing why they don’t deserve to be in control of anything more complicated than an ice cream truck in the summertime. By which I mean driving one around playgrounds, not ordering their desserts for sale nor buying gas to keep the truck running.
Amazing lack of ability to manage, willing to screw everyone, including the people who voted for them, I’m just hoping that the sudden total dynamic change between state government last year and this year catches the attention of people who should have voted last election.
I did phone bank work and it was the most depressing thing I have ever done. People didn’t know or care that there was an election, and there was nothing you could tell them that would induce thenm to spend 20 minutes voting in advance.
So here locally a hard working, honest and smart Democratic candidate for U S Senate lost to a Republican candidate who sold her soul to Wells Fargo Bank years ago, and who never met a little old lady she wasn’t willing to steal from, all traits she learned at her Daddy’s knee before he went to federal prison.
More depressing that sitting in the hospital waiting for my Grandma to die, she was 92 and had a great life. Our nation is going to die because of bitter hatred of Republicans (why they hate a nation that has given the best standard of living in the history of the world?!) and apparently there is nothing Democrats can do to change this inevitable track to death for the better.
Steeplejack
@Elizabelle:
I can (reluctantly) cut him some slack and believe that when he said “never” he meant since he has been a senator, and I find that semi-plausible, what with minions to do his bidding and the observed phenomenon that among C-level execs and equivalents there is the fading but still extant idea that “typing” is beneath them, and thus anything involving typing.
It’s less plausible for anyone who has to do serious writing as part of their job, e.g., attorneys, so if Graham means “never” as in his whole career, then I think that’s complete bullshit.
Mike E
This Hillary business is a self-driving car.
OzarkHillbilly
@Woodrowfan: I have read that she did not have a .gov email account. Didn’t make much sense to me and I did not put any more faith in that report than I have on anything else I have read about this mess. I am neither technologically knowledgeable enough nor gov’t savvy enough to comment on any one particular aspect of this. What I do know is she turned in over 55,000 emails from the private account.
55,000.
A whole lot of people all over the place knew about this and thought nothing much of it for all the time she was in SoS and the 2 years since. But now they are shocked, shocked I tell you...
max
@Yatsuno: OH THE HUGE MANATEES!!!
Flaming manatees falling from the sky! SPLUCH SPLUCH SPLUCH!
max
[‘Actually, I think one of those manatees is named Christie.’]
RaflW
re: Charlie Dent ~
Elizabelle
@RaflW: Cite? Thanks.
askew
@OzarkHillbilly:
Her people have said that she did not use a .gov email address at all while at State. That is not in dispute by anyone.
And she turned over 55,000 pages of emails not 55,000 emails. Big difference.
And if Hillary’s team had any proof that the WH knew about it before she turned over the emails, they would be all over the news bleating about it. Nothing the Clintons like more than pushing responsibility and blame on to another Dem for their mistakes.
Cervantes
@Elizabelle:
Here.
Elizabelle
@Cervantes: Thank you. Looks worth a read.
SatanicPanic
All you Hillary haters have had 6 years to come up with an alternative and now you’re whining because you didn’t. It must be nice to be in a position where it won’t matter to you if you spike our best chance on holding on to the WH. Must be nice.
grandpa john
@max: That same poll also showed her still leading all Republican potential opponents that were included in the poll.
max
@Elizabelle: I think we’d be better served with another woman candidate. I am very nervous about all the eggs in the Hillary basket. Put her on as VP, if she will do it.
No point. If she’s a liability (which I doubt) as POTUS candidate, why wouldn’t she be a liability as VPOTUS candidate.
I am not sure she’s electable.
If there’s a Democrat around who’s electable (excluding the term limited Obama), she’s almost certainly it. Wildly popular with women, and plenty of traction on the masculine side of minority groups. She may have better traction than Obama does with the ‘white working class’. All the other Dems are either old white guys or unknowns. (Awkward.) In practice, she’s to the left of most the currently plausible candidates. She obviously does have a bit of a problem with the activist crowd, but they’ll come around.
Does this mean I am a big Clinton fan? No. But as I argued with people before the 2000 election, I may not be a big Al Gore fan (DLC! DLC!), but by God there’s no way in hell I’m going to try and fuck him up and get another Bush elected.
Substitute Clinton for Gore and there you go.
We cannot lose the White House in 2016. Supreme Court appointments. We must hold the White House.
Given that this is pre-primary jitters season, have you given any consideration to the idea that these stories are being floated now not to discourage the great mass of voters (who don’t care) but mainly to fuck with dedicated Democrats such as yourself?
I mean, after all, folks like Karl Rove are keen to for party splits (they’ve got one of their own to nurse), and the best part for turd blossom is that stuff like this is self-replicating. The targets (activist types) go out and start yakking about this and panicking and all that stuff, which makes more noise, which draws more traffic, which helps maximize damage, which is what they’re trying to do.
Ergo: GET VACCINATED.
max
[‘And avoid typhoid marys.’]
Mandalay
@Anne Laurie:
Stephanopoulos left in 96 after he had helped get Clinton reelected:
Throw in that Stephanopoulos had been suffering from depression, and Clinton later apologized for the way he had treated GS, yet you say he was an “early defector”? What am I missing?
askew
@SatanicPanic:
Yes, because the only option is shut up and never criticize Queen Hillary or only speak positively of alternatives to Hillary. Funny how Hillary supporters have no problems shitting all over other Democrats.
As someone who is considered a Hillary hater, I’ve been talking up my choice for the nomination for over a year in Governor O’Malley.
But Hillary’s dropping poll #s against GOP and favorability # drops as well as her latest misstep is fair game. If you want to only hear Hillary cheerleading, I hear Jerome Armstrong re-opened MyDD. He did delete all the racist diaries and comments from the Hillary supporters in 2008 so it’s a clean slate over there.
SatanicPanic
@max:
This. I’m shocked that alleged Democrats are jumping on this email story like the news hasn’t ever inflated some stupid story about a prominent Democrat before. I’m just waiting for a few commenters to go the full BENGHAZI! on her.
FlipYrWhig
I’m Very Concerned about Domain Name Gate. Emails something something The Clintons. O’Malley 2016!
FlipYrWhig
@FlipYrWhig: P.S. Actually, it’s about ethics in gaming journalism.
SatanicPanic
@askew:
I wouldn’t say it’s the only option, but it’s not a bad one. I mean, seriously, O’Malley is going nowhere and neither is anyone else. But hey, if you’re so comfortable that a SCOTUS that overturns the New Deal is OK with you, then by all means, keep it up.
Eric U.
@JPL: I was thinking SAE stood for Society of Automotive Engineers, and I didn’t think they had frats.
askew
@grandpa john:
But, her lead is down against all GOP contenders. She is starting to poll like a generic Dem with nowhere to go but down.
Bobby Thomson
@Baud: pretty much. Hey, men are weird. And stupid.
Iowa Old Lady
@Eric U.: I had that same thought. Mr. IOL belongs to the SAE. But not the frat one.
OzarkHillbilly
@askew:
Thank you for the correction.
And you still haven’t answered my question: Who did Hillary answer to? (ans, Obama and only Obama)
And I am NOT blame shifting here, I am saying it is willful blindness to believe that NOBODY in the WH knew she had a private e-mail account and that the ones who did, did NOT have a responsibility to report that to their superiors, who had a responsibility to kick it up the chain and considering how tight a ship the Obama admin has been (not a single plausible major screw up or cover up in 6 years??) I find it highly unlikely that this was not brought to Obama’s attention.
What is more, it is his Admin and he can run it any way he wants to. I certainly won’t complain or indict him for it. My own gut feeling says he knew and signed off on it. But 36 years of cynicism is hardly evidence permissible in a court of law.
As to the politics of how this is being presented to the public by the various players in this little passion play, as I said before, they all have an axe to grind or an ass to cover and their motivations color their every word. And that includes Obama.
And I think no less of him for that fact.
lol
@boatboy_srq:
The camera seems perfectly secure. There’s nothing in the article that indicates that hackers were able to crack the encryption or exploit a security hole in the software. The system only allows access to people with the proper credentials.
In this case, people left the credentials to the same combination as my luggage.
Tenar Darell
@BillinGlendaleCA: Heh. The stupidity, it burns! (Even I, a lowly programmer at one time, know better).
SatanicPanic
@FlipYrWhig: I’d also like to know if she killed Vince Foster. I call for another Congressional investigation
Amir Khalid
It must have already been noted up-thread that going from a 62-11 lead to 60-13 in one poll is just a blip. It doesn’t mean anything unless there’s a trend. I’m with SatanicPanic. I did say a few days ago, wait a fortnight and see if anyone is still paying emailghazi any notice. If it dies down, then no harm was done to Hillary’s chances.
Cacti
@askew:
She’s doomed.
Got it.
But maybe you can explain it to us another dozen times.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
it’s all about telling the American people the trooth! with apologies for linking to Politico
I’ll bet the name is changed by noon eastern, if it hasn’t been already
askew
@OzarkHillbilly:
I don’t think he would have said that he found out from the news if he signed off on it beforehand. He knows very well that the Clintons would have no problem sticking a knife in his back and would love to be able to blame this on him.
It sounds like there were a lot of special exceptions made for special snowflake Hillary when she signed on to the administration and I’d guess that people who saw the personal email address just assumed that was one of them or they were too busy to miromanage a PITA like I am sure HIllary was for the Obama people.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@askew: Do you really think the Balloon Juice comment threads are what’s keeping O’Malley down?
Germy Shoemangler
Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) looks like someone straight out of American Horror Story: Freak Show.
trollhattan
@Eric U.:
We had an SAE chapter at my school who were the jock frat. This kerfuffle would have been right in their wheelhouse.
lol
@different-church-lady:
There will still be accidents but there will be far fewer of them. The vast vast majority of car accidents are caused by some stupid mistake the driver made, whether it’s driving drunk, tired or distracted, misjudging how the weather affects conditions, going too fast, etc. These are all things the computer will do better, particularly on commutes or long drives.
That leaves not handling the unpredictability of drivers and pedestrians well. The former gets better as more driverless cars hit the road.
As for the latter, from what I’ve seen of driverless cars, they’re currently cautious to a fault. Construction, police directing traffic, pedestrians who are sort of half on/off the sidewalk, etc pretty much cause the car to stop rather than risk an accident.
You’re not going to have accidents because the driver was too impatient and decided to roll into the crosswalk or run a red light which is the cause of most pedestrian accidents.
SatanicPanic
@Amir Khalid: I don’t get why everyone’s so eager to jump on this- the media doesn’t exactly have a great success rate for exposing Clinton scandals.
Amir Khalid
@askew:
Why would Bill and Hillary want to shiv Obama now? He’s not going to be a rival in 2016, and they might want the support of a popular outgoing president..
trollhattan
@OzarkHillbilly:
I’ve already lost interest. The nation should, too.
Gin & Tonic
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’ll bet the name is changed by noon eastern
EDT or EST? That’s the important question. Because I think we need another 150 comments complaining about Daylight Saving Time.
Germy Shoemangler
I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but on Good Morning America Jon Karl said
1. That Hillary’s chances to be pres were in doubt now
2. That her use of private emails was unprecedented
3. That Jeb was in ascent
George Steph smiled through the whole report. I know ratings are his number one priority, but couldn’t he provide some balance to Jon’s College Republican spin?
Elizabelle
@max: Wise post. Thank you, Max.
JPL
@trollhattan: Kerfuffle is not an adjective the news media has used. They did blur the faces and I’m not sure why. I would assume they were over 18.
Patricia Kayden
@SatanicPanic: Thank you!!! I get that some of us have concerns about Secretary Clinton, to say the least, but this is starting to feel like a circus. So we’re going to pull another Gore/Bush where the media belittled Gore to the point where Bush stole the election? Which Clown Car Occupant do you want in the White House?
catclub
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Benghazi Forever? Kneecap the Bitch? Congressional Anklebiters Caucus?
Patricia Kayden
@grandpa john: Which is probably what will happen in November 2016 — Dems will (reluctantly) support her if she runs as the Democratic Presidential candidate. And most importantly, she’ll win.
Patricia Kayden
@askew: As a Marylander, I’d love an O’Malley run. If that happens and he beats Secretary Clinton, he’d have my vote. We’ll see.
rikyrah
Y’all
Y’all…
they are absolutely ridiculous!!
PHUCKING TRAITORS TO THIS COUNTRY!!
……………….
Republicans Warn Iran Against Nuclear Deal With Obama
Reuters
Posted: 03/09/2015 8:43 am EDT
WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) – Republican senators warned Iran on Monday that any nuclear deal made with U.S. President Barack Obama could last only as long as he remains in office, in an unusual intervention into U.S. foreign policy-making.
The letter, signed by 47 U.S. senators, says Congress plays a role in ratifying international agreements and points out that Obama will leave office in January 2017, while many in Congress will remain in Washington long after that.
“We will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear-weapons program that is not approved by the Congress as nothing more than an executive agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei,” the letter read.
“The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of an agreement at any time,” it read.
The letter, first reported by Bloomberg News, followed a speech to a joint meeting of Congress last week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who warned that the United States was negotiating a “bad deal” with Tehran.
It comes as world powers have been negotiating with Iran to try to reach some form of understanding by the end of March before a final deal in June that could ease crippling sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.
The U.S. Constitution divides foreign policy powers between the president and Congress. The executive branch is responsible for negotiating international agreements and lawmakers rarely intervene directly with the leaders of another nation while the president’s administration is negotiating a pact.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/09/iran-nuclear-deal_n_6830308.html
OzarkHillbilly
@askew:
This is a possibility, but he has lied for political expediency before. All politicians do. And yes, there were a # of exceptions made for Hillary, there always are in such situations (“uniting behind a candidate”) and that too was politics.
As to “special snowflake” Hillary, I get that you don’t like her. Neither do I. But I respect the woman far too much to denigrate her for doing what any every other cabinet person did: driving as hard a bargain as they could. That is just common sense. And politics.
catclub
@Elizabelle: Paul Waldman at Tapped is pretty good, too.
http://www.prospect.org/waldman
Open letter to Hillary.
SatanicPanic
@Patricia Kayden: Gore’s loss and the subsequent Bush years were a disaster that we’re just barely recovering from and now people want to go down that road again? No thanks.
catclub
@rikyrah: The GOP senators say this is NOT unprecedented because Joe Biden Wrote a similar letter to The US SOS in 2002 on Congressional input. I would suggest that writing to the US SOS is not quite the same as writing to the Foreign nation the President is negotiating with. But you knew that.
askew
For those bitching that George Steph isn’t defending Hillary enough, don’t worry he’ll do his part eventually. Remember his absurd moderating of the Hillary/Obama debate where he spent most of the debate going after Obama on Rev Wright, flag pins and if he’d be her VP.
As for those worried that people are criticizing Hillary, get over it. If she ever manages to pull her head out of her ass and run a decent campaign, I’ll be the first to compliment her.
RaflW
@Elizabelle: Sorry, was in a rush and didn’t circle back till now.
I see that cervantes delivered the linkage.
catclub
@SatanicPanic: I really hope that the Campaign manager use that quote from a GOP operative. “Bush administrations fucked up twice and Democrats came in twice after them and fixed the economy. Why would you let them at it again?”
ruemara
How many of you have worked with elected? Directly? I have. It’s not uncommon for upper level elected and their superior appointees to just use a personal email. Really. It’s hard for them to adjust, they default to their own email. Considering the SoS had no .gov email, it makes no sense how this story is a scandal. The VRA is quite scandal. Our governing body of lunatics on the Hill is a scandal. This is not. I’m decidedly not a Hillary fan, since “hard-working white voters”, but I’ll quit my job and work full time to get her in the Oval Office and a Democratic majority in both Houses for 2016.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@rikyrah: all this being driven by freshman Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, who I believe managed to get through Harvard believing in Bishop Usher’s calculation of the age of our youthful planet.
Matt McIrvin
I saw some headline on TPM saying that in some poll or other, Clinton was now neck-and-neck with Scott Walker. “Neck-and-neck” turned out to be something like 49-44, which in a real election would be a solid win, but it made a lot of her not getting 50%. Probably better to postpone the freaking out until people actually get a better look at all the candidates.
askew
@OzarkHillbilly:
What you are doing is making up a theory that Hillary drove a hard bargain and got special permission to circumvent the guidelines Obama put in place for emails. Considering the WH has been consistent about this from the beginning and everyone including the president have said they didn’t know about this or approve of it prior to being implemented, I am going to trust them. The Obama WH has proven to be must more trustworthy than Hillary who lies at the drop of a hat, but even her team isn’t suggesting that the WH knew what she was doing. And they would be shouting it from the rooftops if they had any proof Obama knew about it and approved it.
Considering Lanny Davis’s latest spin is that she had to set up a secret server because she traveled a lot, it’s clear they can’t use the much better Obama approved it excuse.
I’ll continue to say until the end of time that Hillary wasn’t worth it at State. She made messes for Obama to clean-up and Kerry has proven that he is better at the job than she is. But, Senate Dems didn’t want her back and she wasn’t going to be given any top committee spots, so Obama was a team player and put her where he thought she’d do the least amount of damage. /
askew
@Matt McIrvin:
Considering she has 100% name recognition and Walker doesn’t, neck and neck is a fair take on it. Not that national polls matter in electing president, but those numbers are bad for someone with 100% name recognition with nowhere to go but down. There is no way to spin it otherwise.
KG
@scav: oh, I’m sure it’ll be something like that. But it just reminds me of the scene from I, Robot where the robot had to decide between saving Will Smith and a kid and choose Will Smith because it calculated that he had a 64% chance of survival and the kid had a 43% chance (or whatever the numbers were)… As Will Smith says “a person would have tried to save the kid”.
Calouste
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Which says something about Harvard, as in that a Harvard degree doesn’t even prove you’re not an idiot.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Matt McIrvin: I’d like to see a poll in WI on HRC vs Walker. TPM used to have a poll-tracker page, IIRC, with links to recent state polls. I don’t see it now. Is it one of the things he moved behind his paywall?
Punchy
Because they’re white kids.
askew
@ruemara:
SoS had a .gov email. Condi Rice used it. Kerry is using it now. Hillary could have had a .gov email and chose not to even though Obama directed his admin to use government email for government work. There have been lots of stories about this already. Other cabinet heads use .gov email. WH staff use .gov email. It was available. Hillary chose not to use it and no one has any idea why.
And even if she didn’t use .gov email, there are regs regarding the prompt archiving of emails which it appears she didn’t follow since State didn’t get emails until 2 years after she left and according to aides only 90% of emails were turned over.
Considering Hillary railed on Bush’s admin for the same thing in 2007 and called it shredding the constitution, it is a bit rich for her supporters to pretend that it isn’t a big deal now.
Another Holocene Human
@Keith G:
I suspect it’s more likely that they will implement pieces of self-driving technology, as is already happening in the luxury space (self-parking, stability). Things like proximity detection and auto-braking. Ha, not unlike railroad cab signals. They will become standard and rolled out piecewise as the technology matures.
I suspect Google is bullshitting about the viability of the entirely self-driving auto. The tech has been worked on for years and years and obviously robotics are improving every day. Still, I’m only seeing limited pieces being rolled out in the wild. The expense will also likely well exceed the reach of your average blind person, so paratransit isn’t going away any time soon–except because of budget cuts–fa fa! The mobility impaired, just a bunch of takers, amirite?
As for repairing lower tech autos, the average time that a car is owned has gone way up in the US, so, yes, expect decades of legacy fleets.
Long before these boo-hoo insurers and such lose their shirts, though, I suspect there will be a fresh wave of de-employing transit workers. It doesn’t matter that transit riders like there to be transit workers on board the vehicles, to feel more safe if nothing else. It doesn’t matter that the last time a major agency pushed for a staff reduction they were forced to hire sworn officers to ride the trains at an expense FAR higher than the staff they axed (since they were junior sub-operator positions anyway). Never mind that in most of the world it’s typical to have customer service employees all over the place in transit operations and nobody thinks that’s weird. No, we must achieve the dream of NO transit employees! NO drivers! Automate everything! Fuck the unions! Screw the passengers! Nothing but fat administrative salaries and capital contract kickbacks from here to the moon!!!
Gin & Tonic
@askew: she had to set up a secret server
Not “secret”, just privately managed. And an address presumably known to however many thousands of people she exchanged e-mail with.
I, too, think she is handling this poorly, but don’t make it into more than it is. I think everyone who feels a need to comment on this issue should be required to first take 10 minutes and read this article, the only one I’ve seen anywhere that gets the technical details reasonably correct.
Patricia Kayden
@rikyrah: Can you imagine the uproar if Democrats had done this to Reagan or either of the Bushes? President Clinton got it bad from the Republicans but this disrespect towards President Obama is unprecedented.
Gin & Tonic
@Calouste: It never did.
scav
@KG: But then it was a person that didn’t include the kid-positive weighting factor into the computer’s programming. Unless that robot was self-programming and thus made an autonomous moral decision and we all of us do that. Not all humans necessarily would have saved the kid 100% of the time. Human decision making gets really weird.
SatanicPanic
@askew: Yes, it’s broadly true that someone who has already been in the public eye for over 25 years probably won’t get more popular. Why you think that means that Walker, who has never run a national campaign, isn’t equally likely to sink in the polls is beyond me. The last consistent, nationally popular Republican was Bush, back in 2004. Is there something special about Walker that you think he’ll be able the obvious handicap that all Republicans face?
Another Holocene Human
@askew: How is Kerry doing a better job? Seriously. I’m no Hillzbot and I have no animus towards Kerry although I did protest vote against him in a primary once over something to do with Bush’s wars. From where I’m sitting, granted very far away and not well informed, he seems to be a pretty shitty SoS. Says the wrong thing, makes the wrong moves, etc. The only positive is that he loyally carries out what Obama wants and Obama has been a pretty skillful diplomat. But other than that I see a string of gaffes and failures and frankly I fail to see any personality or purpose in the man. So school me.
Calouste
@Another Holocene Human: I will start believing in self-driving cars when they start doing tests outside 360-days-a-year-of-sunshine places like Southern California and Nevada.
Another Holocene Human
@Matt McIrvin: Since 47% will always march lockstep and vote for a GOP clown, all that means is that GOPers don’t hate Walker. (Yet.) He has yet to betray conservative principles, yadda yadda. Maybe this makes some of them think that will make them win, but they are wrong. They only win if Democrats fail to show up. Walker has no crossover appeal and if anything will motivate Dems to the polls, so good luck with that, GOP.
Another Holocene Human
@Calouste: All the money and development is in assistive technologies that “save” the ugly bag of water from a catastrophic loss of control or a preventable collision.
Right now, anyway. But, the economics of it make sense.
different-church-lady
@Another Holocene Human: “”For a small price, I can install this little blue button to get you down!“
askew
@Another Holocene Human:
Look what has been done since Kerry got onboard – China deal, Cuba deal. Cuba was largely driven by Kerry and he was very involved in China deal. He is also very close on Iran deal and insiders are praising him for his work on it. He also got the Syria deal in place. It’s a shitty deal but better than us having to do all the heavy lifting ourselves. He is much more involved in the big deals that have been accomplished than Hillary was. Obama’s big foreign policy wins in the first term you heard Biden was very involved in or Obama did the heavy lifting.
I agree that he is awkward as hell in public and has said a lot of dumb things but he is getting results and he hasn’t created any messes as big as Hillary’s mess in Honduras or the mess she left behind in Argentina. Now, we may find out later that Kerry made big mistakes but so far he has really impressed me and that is coming from someone who thought he was a disaster as a candidate in 2004.
Another Holocene Human
@ruemara:
You are a hero. I mean it. I can only hope that I can work up the gumption I had in 2012 to knock on doors and work call lists … god I hate making those phone calls.
It’s so worth it … we need to work on that state lege as well. I don’t know how but it needs to change.
danielx
@Patricia Kayden:
Yeah, but they were all real Americans, as opposed to the Kenyan imposter.
Cacti
@Another Holocene Human:
I don’t fear Walker or any other of the other GOPer candidates to date for the following reason. The GOP has trouble winning the White House because they perform poorly with women voters, youngs, and minorities. Hillary needs to mend some fences with black voters of 2008, but I don’t see Walker bringing any of the above groups over to the GOP camp in any significant way.
catclub
@askew:
The rule against a private email is that ‘you do not conduct government business using a private email.’
If no one in the WH knew what she was doing, that means to me that none of them ever received an email from Hillary with her private email that was doing government business.
If, then, NONE of them knew of any government business she did with her private email – this suggests to me that she did ZERO government business with her private email. Which I can imagine if she did most of her work over the phone or through her subordinates, or face to face.
Another Holocene Human
@askew: Okay, good point, although I figured the Cuba thing had a lot to do with domestic politics, hence the timing. But somebody had to pick up the ball, so fair enough. Yes, that thing with Honduras was disgusting. I’m disinclined to give Kerry credit for the Syria operation, that seemed to be Obama’s doing, and Kerry faceplanted badly on Israel. Bit of New England arrogance, I think.
I don’t understand your reference to Argentina?
I know Clinton came into State with a goal to improve the lives of girls and women and change US policy that was detrimental to those goals. Did she succeed or fail at that?
askew
@Another Holocene Human:
You can’t say that Walker has no crossover appeal yet. It is way too early and he is too unknown.
@SatanicPanic:
Walker is going to go up in polls because he has such low name recognition. The GOP base will support him once their primary is done and they know who he is and he’ll be at 47%. Hillary is at her peak numbers now. Her numbers have fallen as she campaigns in the past. They’ll drop again. And Walker is a jackass who has run 3 good campaigns and he has more political talent than Hillary. He also doesn’t seem to be surrounded by a bunch of political has-beens and opportunists like Hillary is.
Germy Shoemangler
I made phone calls in 2008, and some of the comments I heard were word-for-word Rush Limbaugh.
Another Holocene Human
@rikyrah: war profiteers lobby
Germy Shoemangler
@Another Holocene Human: Kerry faceplanted badly on Israel. Bit of New England arrogance, I think.
Onion Headline from 2013: “Man Who Couldn’t Defeat George W. Bush Attempting To Resolve Israel-Palestine Conflict”
SatanicPanic
@askew: huh, so basically he can aspire to the same level as Romney. OK.
askew
@Another Holocene Human:
Israel is due to Bibi’s racism and Obama as president period. Hillary didn’t make any more progress and was equally unsuccessful in containing that jackass.
Cuba was mostly Kerry’s doing. It was one of his conditions when he signed on as SoS. He got a ton of kudos for his work on it.
He is also doing a fantastic job on the Iran deal according to people following the negotiations.
A bunch of cables leaked from Hillary and her team calling the Argentina president unbalanced, etc. and this was after Kerry/Obama had made inroads in fixing the Argentina/US relationship that was hurt during Hillary’s time at State.
I have no idea whether or not Hillary’s personal goals were met at State and I guess I don’t really care. It’s an important issue but she was there to carry out Obama’s foreign policy not hers. I’d be equally irritated with Kerry if he ignored or botched other foreign policy issues because he was working on his personal agenda.
Amir Khalid
@askew:
How do you know this?
askew
@SatanicPanic:
Not at all. That’s where he starts and there is no guarantee that Hillary can even get close to matching Obama’s #s especially with her favorables already below 50.
Pogonip
How about a new topic?
askew
@Amir Khalid:
Because they have dropped in the past and from observing polling in presidential elections for the past 4 cycles. Hillary has no place to grow because everyone in the country already knows who she is and has formed an opinion on her. And voters have shown that the more the they see of Hillary, the less they like her. Her numbers went down throughout the 2008 campaign and have been going down as she is getting ready to run for president.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
From the Wikipedia entry on ΣΑΕ:
Just honoring their heritage, I guess.
Mobile Grumpy Code Monkey
@Elizabelle: Also need the Senate for SC appointments; they have to approve the nominees.
Germy Shoemangler
@Pogonip: As I was lying in bed this morning listening to our radiators rattle and hiss, it struck me that there are people who live in places where it is warm year round. I tried to imagine living in a house with NO FURNACE, NO RADIATORS… and then I realized that if I did, my house would most likely be surrounded by poisonous snakes. So I really can’t win.
Six feet snow piles next to my driveway, slowly melting. We’re up to 38º.
Another Holocene Human
@askew:
lolol, I guess you are not in a union for one thing, and have not been paying attention to the shite Walker does and says. Remember this is the guy that after ACA was passed and Roberts modified it, took that opportunity to CUT Medicaid in Wisconsin!
Walker is a divider, not a uniter. He is also dumb as a stump and hates and distrusts higher education, which is a big negative for “moderate” voters. He can’t help himself; he says stupid stuff when unscripted.
WI and MN used to have very similar, even linked economies. After 2008, MN went blue and WI went red. The divergence has been stark. Can the Koch Weasel explain why unemployment is so terrible in his red paradise? Can he defend his record of misery and failure? No, he won’t try, he’ll run on talking points and being the anti-Obama, as if that’s a good thing. He’ll fool a lot of Republicans into thinking he can win enough EVs to put him over the top. But on election day, he might even lose his home state, no matter what numbers the Waukesha Registrar of Elections uploads after a suspicious delay.
Go ahead, GOP. Nominate this anti-labor, anti-intellectual clown. Volunteers will pop out of the woodwork to organize against him. He’s a stupid, snivelly shit backed by secretive, un-American billionaire brothers.
To be honest, Bush name or no, JEB! bothers me more (even though he would lose Florida … no doubt about it … Floridians remember him most uncharitably) because he seems to get a total pass on all the shitty stuff he did from the national press. Give away a municipal money market fund to a Lehman junk paper salesman and cause multiple Florida cities and counties to fail to make payroll, losing literally billions of dollars overnight? It’s never stuck to him. Just like all the other shitty stuff he did. Nothing sticks to this guy. And he pretends to be moderate which gives some voters an “out” to vote for the greater evil. The only wildcard is that it might turn out that he’s good at fundraising but bad at campaigning. Florida politics is a very hothouse environment for the winners and it could be he’ll fall apart fast. So who knows.
SatanicPanic
@askew: I don’t get why you’re so bullish on Walker when no Republican has managed to be nationally popular in over a decade, especially not one that’s made no attempt to appeal to non-white people. GWB at least had a formula to broaden his appeal. Walker doesn’t even have that.
askew
@catclub:
We don’t know if no one at the WH received an email from her. We just know so far that no one reported her not following guidelines to Obama.
I’d guess that most of the emails she sent at State were either through her subordinates (some of whom were also using the private email system) or to people outside government. It’s the people outside our government that is the issue IMO. She was dealing with foreign governments and with a potential conflict of interest with the Clinton Foundation, we need to see those emails.
SatanicPanic
@Another Holocene Human: yeah, I get that askew doesn’t like Hillary, but “Walker could be a big vote getter” is just baffling.
askew
@Another Holocene Human:
I think Walker is an asshole and his decisions have resulted in funding for my alma mater being slashed (Go Badgers) and impacted relatives I have living in Madison who work with the University. I don’t agree with anything he is doing in Wisconsin.
But, he managed to win 3 elections in a light blue state and clearly has an appeal to voters.
You don’t have to explain the differences between Minnesota and Wisconsin to me. I live in Minnesota and have most of my life and attended school in Wisconsin. I get the differences.
If the choice was between Hillary and Walker, I would be first in line to vote for Hillary. However, I do think he is worrying. He has appeal to independents and has policies he can run on. They are horrible policies but he can run on them. He can run on his executive experience as well.
What does Hillary run on? She didn’t do much of anything of note in the Senate and now she’s tainted her time as SoS.
I just see a lot of negatives with Hillary as our nominee and very little positives besides being a woman. That just isn’t going to be enough.
gene108
@askew:
From the article you linked.
Hillary’s problem and the problem of any other Democrat is the fact President Obama does not have Earth shattering approval ratings. For many people, he is the worst President in American history.
With that kind of drag on the 2016 ticket, it makes it easier for Republicans. They just have to point out and say “Four more years of Obama” and they win.
Clearly the problem Democrats face is not Hillary sucking the oxygen out of the room, but rather Obama’s tepid popularity.
I think you misunderstood the crux of the article.
Omnes Omnibus
@Another Holocene Human: What are the gaffes and failures that you see?
Mike in NC
@Calouste: Bill O’Reilly and Ted Cruz went to Harvard, didn’t they?
different-church-lady
@askew:
Oh, FFS… you’re like the political world’s equivalent of a dead-end Deflate-gater.
SatanicPanic
@gene108: They just have to point out and say “Four more years of Obama” and they win.– so Republicans run their 2012 strategy in a less favorable environment, with a candidate with a worse record and lower name recognition. OK.
askew
@gene108:
I understood the article just fine and Obama’s approval ratings are better than W’s were in 2008.
The article was saying that Hillary doesn’t have an advantage any longer over other Dems. She is going to run at best as a generic Dem not any better. Her approval ratings are already below 50. Her supporters were saying the best reason to support her is polling. Her approvals were skyhigh and she was going to have huge coattails. Now, she is going to be lucky to win just like any other Dem and there is a potential for her approvals to continue to fall making her worse than a generic Dem.
boatboy_srq
@lol: Security is only as good as users’ awareness. If the system is yours, and it’s your house/family that are vulnerable, default passwords aren’t enough. People unaware enough to leave system passwords on defaults for themselves aren’t likely to require better security from their HOA’s systems.
Matt McIrvin
@gene108:
Eh, I don’t think they win with that alone, without some incompetence on the part of the Democratic nominee next year, and/or a really good Republican nominee.
That line works with the midterm electorate, but it only goes so far. If you look at Obama’s job approval numbers, he was in a significantly worse place than now in late 2011, with less time to go until his own reelection. And it really wasn’t even that close.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Hard-working white American swing voters! HILLARY! can win them over!
Another Holocene Human
@askew: You must love disaster porn. Yeah, the arguments about Hilary’s coattails were bullshit. But the Dem bench is not looking so awesome for 2016. Jer boy O’Malley imploded. He’s finito. That other Senator from NYS isn’t running. Cuomo? Don’t make me laugh. The Castros know they aren’t in position. Harris is going for statewide office. Hilary is the big cheese, and we are going to ride that hoss because SCOTUS appointments matter.
Another Holocene Human
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The only “swing” in 2015 are the voters who
stay homego to work rather than vote. The entire game is to get them to the polls.Matt McIrvin
@Another Holocene Human: My wife Sam and I were talking the other day about which of the Republican candidates we found least odious. I think if it were down to domestic policy, it’d be Jeb by default… but I don’t want his foreign policy team (which is basically W’s foreign policy team, the same old gang) within a hundred miles of the White House.
Another Holocene Human
@Omnes Omnibus: See upthread where he bombed with Israel, also made statements he had to walk back.
Another Holocene Human
@askew: What about the claims that the WI Dems have been self-destructing and running candidates that aren’t well liked by the base because of internal party politics?
And yeah Walker has an appeal–to bitter disgruntled whites who want somebody to stick it to the ******s. See Romney’s vote totals for a preview of just who he appeals to.
Milwaukee stayed home last election. Good thing for Walker.
I love that they’re placing their money on Scotty. Yeah. That’ll end well.
Matt McIrvin
@gene108: …anyway, my biggest worry is, she looks at Obama having below 50% job approval and concludes the right thing to do is run as far away as possible from Obama and differentiate herself from him. A million people are going to be telling her to do that, and, basically, that way lies madness.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
and first and foremost the man who thinks Obama stole his third term in ’08
boatboy_srq
@Another Holocene Human: Don’t forget the hash FL made of the Charlie/Frances/Ivan/Jeannie recovery. The only reason 2004 wasn’t a disaster for Shrub was because FL (with JEB as Governor) took on the recovery, shielding Shrub’s FEMA fiasco for one more year. FL didn’t do much better with the recovery in 2004 than FEMA did with Katrina the following year – but by keeping the issue in-state, JEB kept it out of the national press.
askew
@Another Holocene Human:
I don’t think that is true. Burke was a good candidate. As someone who has lived in Madison and has family in Wisconsin, Walker is a good fit for the state. People make the mistake of thinking that WI and MN are very similar and after living in both states I would disagree. WI has a much larger Catholic population and they are more conservative in many ways. They also say bubbler instead of drinking fountain which is stupid but beside the point.
There is always bitching about nominees after losses but this is the 3rd win for Walker and we ran good canidates against him. We just came up short. He is really the only GOP candidate that is in the running right now that worries me.
And I will admit I was wrong. The WH said that Obama and Hillary did exchange emails but that Obama did not know about her personal email setup.
Lastly, they have now sent out James Carville to do damage control. Who is next, Mark Penn? There are so many sleazy people associated with the Clintons.
Mandalay
@askew:
Many Argentinians hate the United States, and I am choosing my words carefully.
But it has far more to do with the buitres (vultures) of Wall Street trying to squeeze every last dime out of Argentina for the bonds they bought on the cheap than any (deliberately?) leaked email from Hillary Clinton.
askew
@Another Holocene Human:
Any Dem president would appoint good justices. That isn’t a point in Hillary’s favor. And yes, she is likely to win the nomination but as polling is already starting to show, there are likely issues in the general election.
Since the Dems made the mistake of picking the most “electable” candidate in 2004 only to watch him lose due to poor management, lack of political charisma and general ineptitude, I’d like to see us avoid the same mistake again. Hillary has all of Kerry’s negatives and none of his positives.
I’d rather support a progressive with a list of accomplishments who can go toe-to-toe with Walker. Yes, O’Malley is likely to get his ass kicked by the Clintons, but you never know.
Mandalay
@askew:
I have to respectfully disagree on that. Kerry is pompous. Kerry is a windbag. Kerry is a bore. Kerry is gaffe prone. There is little passionate support for Kerry. Whatever their real merits, as a politician Clinton is far better than Kerry in all of those areas.
Kay
Richard Cordray will be a good candidate. First he has to be OH governor, so admittedly this is a longer term plan but he’s freakishly ambitious so he probably has it all plotted out :)
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
I don’;t think she will. Obama will campaign for her. People liked that match- those two competing. I had Republicans here tell me they were envious of that primary, just for pure spectator value. . It was great to watch. I think people will like seeing them together again.
That relationship is interesting- how it shifts back and forth. They can help each other.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: Cordray 2020! (Too soon?)
Bill
@askew: Hillary is battle tested, and has bee thoroughly beaten on by the right. Her numbers are not heading south because she’s had so much exposure that those who liker her just aren’t going to be driven away. Shy of some real (not email) scandal, expect her popularity to hold steady.
Walker on the other hand – and I say this as a resident of his state – is about to take a beating in the national press unlike any he’s every experienced. Right now he’s just “generic white conservative to be loved by the GOP base.” Once the nation gets a full read on how much they guy hates education, hates funding any government program (including infrastructure/trasnportation), hates anyone not lily white , and what a true believer culture warrior he is, expect his numbers to plummet. His popularity will last through a few debates (like Newt et al last time) and then die out.
And I say all this as someones solidly in the “I’ll vote for Hillary if the other option is a Republican” camp.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Betty Cracker: Cordray is a pipe dream. We have to suck it up and vote for Evan Bayh!
(now that’s too soon)
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
I like Thomas Perez too. The Sec of Labor. He’ll need an “interim office”. Mayor of Chicago?
Mandalay
@Bill:
I agree.
Her numbers haven’t fallen in a meaningful sense anyway. She was getting a high favorability rating while she was chugging away as SoS and generally receiving good press, but now her favorability is being sought in the context of her running for president. Apples and oranges; the question may remain the same, but the goalposts have been moved.
Let’s wait until some Republican is being touted as her likely opponent for the presidency and see how their favorability ratings compare.
askew
@Mandalay:
See I think Hillary is all of those things plus just unlikeable and I don’t think Kerry is pompous.
We’ll see I think Hillary has her die-hard supporters locked in but they weren’t enough in 2008 and I don’t think she’s added to those list of supporters. I think she gets fewer votes than Kerry myself.
SFAW
@Matt McIrvin:
And what are the chances of THAT happening? Pretty low, I’ll be. Especially after he/she brings in a battle-tested campaign veteran like Bob Shrum.
Matt McIrvin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Maybe she ought to talk to Al Gore, see how much it helped him to run away from that guy.