Walter Shapiro, writing for Salon, interviewed Hillary Clinton recently.
Not to be outdone, Flash of the Centristy blog, who got five minutes with Barack Obama earlier this year, scored an interview with Bill Richardson.
Check out all three interviews, and let me know what you think:
– Who asked the right questions?
– Who gave the right answers?
– Who tried to weasel their way around a tough question?
– Which questions would you have asked?
– Is anyone going to try to read anything into the way I put together the graphic that accompanies this post? (”Hmmm… she put Richardson on top… but his picture’s smaller than Clinton’s…but Obama’s picture covers her up more than she covers up Richardson’s…”)
Let ‘er rip! (I deliberately didn’t post excerpts because a) I’m too lazy and b) what I choose to excerpt tells more about me than about the interview, and I want you to read them and then tell us all what you think.)
Related posts:
- Interview With Barney Frank: Why He’s Switching His Vote on the Supplemental
- Cheney’s Lawyer Already Leaked the Content of Cheney’s “Privileged” Interview
- Cheney Interview: Washington Post Losing Its Ability to Report, Too
- Executive Privilege and the Cheney Interview Documents
- Fitzgerald-Cheney Interview: A Comedy of Excuses
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Uno?
Dos?
DEZ?
Tres?
Hi PW and Bob (my new facebook pal!)
brendan, please read my comment @165 on previous thread – you totally misread me, darling (apologies for the OT, but this person was pretty mad at me – imagine that!)
Time to grade interviews! You mean FDL gives out homework?!?!? :-)
Why not include a grade on Dodd’s VLog with FDL?
Bob in HI
Do we have to read past Shapiro’s first question?
and Clinton’s answer?
I purchased 3 books after last weeks book thread that Christy ran last week (through firedoglake & amazon, of course) and they were shipped today. They accidently sent a fourth book to me…….”god is not great” by Christopher Hitchins. What do I do?
Hi, Loo Hoo!
Which candidate makes most sense to you?
For me, listening to the candidate alone and ignoring stuff coming out of campaign offices, I like what I’ve heard from Edwards & Dodd best.
Bob in HI
ccmask @ 9
Kindling…
ccmask @ 9
Give it to a teething puppy..)
lol I knew you guys would know what todo with it. Are they giving them away?
ccmask @ 9
Give it to a fundie friend.
Asking me (or perhaps us) to read interviews of Obama and Hillary borders on sadism. ;0)
Oklahoma kiddo @ 15
Just read the Richardson interview, it’s the only worth reading!
Shapiro asked both the best and worst questions. Obviously he is clueless in some of the areas but he did at least confront Sen Clinton on her Iraq statements.
Flash seemed to be mostly about Flash although I would say Richardson gave better answers to questions than Obama.
But then I may be an idiot…
ccmask @ 9
Burn it !
Lou Costello @ 14
spew!!!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 15
hee, hee
Richardson on Iraq:
centristy
ccmask @ 9
Give it to your ancient uncle who lives in the boonies and still uses an outhouse. He’ll know what to do with it.
Whoever answers PW’s questions above correctly gets the book, whether they want it or not.
PS: Free shipping :))
dakine01 @ 17
That’s kinda what I thought, too. He wasn’t vicious, but he didn’t give her a free ride, either. But to judge from what some of the commenters at Salon were saying, you’d think that he gave her a tongue bath or something.
Flash seemed to be mostly about Flash although I would say Richardson gave better answers to questions than Obama.
But then I may be an idiot…
Richardson does seem to be a bit less affected by Front-Runner’s Disease, yes. He’s not going off half-cocked, but he’s not being mealy-mouthed either.
Richardson:
Well you have to understand the Republican Party. They’re the party of the Status Quo, they’re negative. Looking at their debate, I see where that party is at; defending an unpopular President and an even more unpopular war in Iraq They’re defending torture and they want to expand torture. That was the message I got from the debate. They want to basically instill the politics of fear when it comes to immigration. They are going to use every wedge issue, they are going to be negative But we have to be ready we can’t just sit back and let them take shots. We got to be able to respond!
I have to say, although I’m no Obama or Hill fan and I don’t really know about Richardson yet, I am very proud of the fact that we have a woman, a Hispanic and an African-American as highly visible candidates this year!
(I say “highly visible,” since in 2003, Sharpton and Carol Moseley Braun did run, but, surprise, surprise, they were pretty much ignored).
ccmask @ 23
Talk about your thread killers. *s*
ccmask @ 23
Heh! “Correctly” according to whom?
I just want people to read the interviews and put aside their prejudices (pro or con) for a second, is all.
From RawStory, Voter Caging is the next bright, shiny scandal.
——————————–
SENATORS DEMAND JUSTICE DEPT. INVESTIGATION INTO TIM GRIFFIN, RNC 2004 VOTE CAGING ALLEGATIONS
Sens. Kennedy and Whitehouse Send Letter to DoJ Inspector General’s Office Seeking Probe into RNC Voter Supression Tactics
“The Republican Party has a long and ignominious record of caging – much of it focused on the African American community,” Kennedy and Whitehouse explain in their letter which gives details of the RNC using voting caging tactics to suppress minority voters in both 1981 and 1986. After both incidents, the GOP had signed consent decrees that they would not engage in the activity in the future.
Nonetheless, email evidence has shown that in 2004, Tim Griffin created and sent caging lists on behalf of the Bush 2004 campaign as originally reported by the BBC to little American media fanfare, prior to the election. Griffin, who became an aide to Karl Rove, was later appointed by the Bush Administration as the US Attorney from Arkansas after they had fired Bud Cummins. Griffin has since resigned from the post in the wake of the scandal.
In her testimony, given under a grant of immunity from prosecution, [Monica] Goodling said that McNulty “failed to disclose that he had some knowledge of allegations that Tim Griffin had been involved in vote “caging” during his work on the President’s 2004 campaign.”
Is the difference in the three interviews the number of comments each of the pieces received?
HILLARY-26
OBAMA- 9
RICHARDSON-5
PW, I thought that I would lean towards Obama because of his views on health insurance but this question swayed me “I graduated a son this year, tomorrow is his Open House celebration. What can I tell him, and my younger two boys what a Richardson Administration will do to assure them a shot at the American Dream?”
Centristy:
I am going to start with a question I asked Senator Obama Last Spring. How do we make sure we have a healthy debate within the party without providing ammunition to the opposition in the process.
tbsa @ 26
OT but also Old Topic.
I just received a reply to my Obama email last week re his buddy, Bob Bauer, saying Libby should be pardoned.
All text here
Frank33 @ 30
But talking about caging makes the Baby Griffin cry!
Phoenix Woman @ 25
I would bet that those commenters on shapiro’s interview blasting him read only the first page and maybe a little of the second which was the superficial part.
Eureka Springs @ 34
Most have been a global they sent out as I got the same response earlier…
Phoenix Woman
Your graphic intent was balance, visual balance
Eureka Springs @ 34
Thanks, ES!
That needs to be posted on Obama’s website.
Elliott @ 38
Bless you! And thanks. :-)
Eureka Springs @ 34
so, are you gonna stay off his lawn?
From Richardson:
“…it is important that this be the campaign, the Democratic Primary, where the heart and sole of the Democratic Party comes forth.”
The view here is that’s what it’s all about. A struggle for the “heart and sole” of the Democratic Party.
A struggle between the DLC types basically represented by the two front-runners or the more traditional FDR Democratic Party. I know where I stand and it is NOT with the front runners! My ‘candidate’ was not interviewed.
This was an interesting question to Hillary, I thought:
For Democratic voters, one of the ways of sorting out the field is electability. Do you think electability should include how would this candidate do in a three-way race in which Mike Bloomberg, running as an independent, is part of it?
Elliott @ 33
Obama’s answer to that question (post date April 10, 2006)
You know, by talking about issues. I think it is entirely legitimate for Democrats to have a debate about the best way to achieve universal health care, what is the best way to bring our troops back home from Iraq, what is the right balance between security and civil liberties. Those are all, I think, legitimate topics to debate. I would hope that in a Democratic primary we make sure that we always assume good faith on the part of our opponents.
In my opinion,
Obama’s answers were best suited for someone well prepared to run for class president.
Clinton’s were well suited for someone well prepared to run a Presidential campaign.
Richardson’s were best suited for someone well prepared to run this country.
Slightly OT-Will the real Digby standup???
http://tba2007.confabb.com/con…..21/blog/87
CTuttle @ 46
it’s quite the hullabaloo, isn’t it?
I suspect I’ll be with Kucinich until post primary season..
Every once in a while one has to vote with their heart and outside of the triangle.
Get this straight Democrats: You were elected last November to get us out of Iraq.
Bets on the real Digby?
drive-by OT, fixing supper — there are 87 pages of comments on the Cohen opinion piece at the WaPOo.
Lest we forget
More than 70 dead in Baghdad truck bombing
A truck bomb has exploded near a Shiite mosque in Baghdad, killing at least 78 people and injuring almost 200 others.
The massive explosion in the centre of the city destroyed part of the Al-Khilani mosque and sent large clouds of black smoke into the air.
The bombing is the deadliest in Iraq for two months and is the latest in a wave of recent attacks on Sunni and Shiite mosques…
Loo Hoo. @ 50
I actually looked at the possibilities and thought Addie Stan because of the background, but I’m not even sure that Digby’s picture is there because she seems to be a Hollywood type that was raised in the Southeast. I’ve been a long time fan and that’s just my gut feel.
PW, Thanks for the assignment.. Very interesting and fun.
JPL @ 53
Is Jane’s picture there? hmmm
Digby was with Jane during her surgery, even our super hero couldn’t achieve that.
Matthews gets pissed today:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..52875.html
LooHoo, Who do you think Digby is?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 57
AWWWWW, Da widdle jock sniffer got his whitey tighteies in a bind.
Good, I’m proud of those audience members, sounds like they are sick of the media like we are.
JPL @ 58
I haven’t a clue, but I’m dying to find out!
I’m for Edwards.
Maybe I’m picky but there’s something about
Obama that is disturbing.
Perhaps, it is his halting style of rhetoric…
Newsweek says he talks in paragraphs..
maybe that’s it… not decisive?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 57
And of course he has to make it All About Him. She was on the verge of answering the question and he went into his Irish Southie He-Man Routine.
ok,, pw , i’ll bite
hillary interview, terrible questions, no insight, no intellect..might as well been ‘entertainment tonight’ filming.
she starts off having to reframe the questions for him…explaining the questions to him….duh.
ever had to talk with a boring person before? how did you answer their questions….
while reading it, i thought my first challenge to pups would be-read this interview as if a man were answering the questions…so i reread the interview doing just that. she’s an intellectual, a thinker.realist.
====
obama-read my next sentence as fast as doing peter-piper-picked-a-peck-of-picked-peppers.
spin words in as many seconds as he could fit them into in the amount of time he had to finish it.
says the same talking points as hillary, but she’s lookin’ at the world view, he’s lookin’ out the hotel window.
====
richardson-i admit a bias. so there…
has talking points and uses them…..succinctly.
====
verdict still out
====
ccmask-do i win the book? i would read it then give it to someone with an outhouse and no money for paper.
JPL @ 54
Thanks. I’m just afraid I’ve killed the room — between a really depressing Abu Ghraib post and this one, I think I may have caused a lot of folk to flee!
Shuster hammering David Dreir on Ghouliani and his family problems…Dreir says family problems just make Rudy like Ray-guns for him.
Dreir is an idiot.
Obama fails to say exactly why we are in Iraq and fails to say exactly why we should get out now.. (remember how Kucinich had to correct him in a recent debate?)
Obama supported Lieberman last summer..
Enough for me to know I will never vote for him.
Well, this is interesting, here’s Salon’s version of the AP report By NEDRA PICKLER Associated Press Writer from the “Take Back America” conference:
And here’s the version upon HuffPo:
that’s a little chilly
Who is Digby?
I always felt that Digby is a woman, and when I read her words, I have developed a picture of what I think she looks like to me based on people in my past who have had the same ways of thinking and tone to their words. Although I don’t think she is anyone on that list of possibilities linked by CTuttle, I have pictured her to look somewhat like Siun does or maybe even Lanya Shapiro.
But what always happens when I finally do see what someone I’ve heard about actually looks like, they look nothing like what I imagined.
yeah its depressing alright but we needed reminding of whats being done in “our name”….
Phoenix Woman @ 62
My fave part – her laughter right in his manic face.
Phoenix Woman @ 64
I thought that it was good because it was interesting to read the answers. Although Richardson seems to be lower tier, he would be an excellent choice. What do you think about Bloomberg becoming an independent?
Phoenix Woman @ 62
He looked like a whiny-a**’d kid about to cry cuz Mommy wouldn’t let him have his way…
Richardson is my guy. Out of Iraq now. That is the ONLY ACCEPTABLE ANSWER to “What should we do about Iraq”
“Get the fuck out, now.”
PW, You’re doing what has to be done.
1,553 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND..
Citizen Phoenix Woman and the Firepup Patriots:
Readin’ these interviews and havin’ at least 3 brain cellz workin’ while listenin’ and observin’ the Democratic candidate field over the last few weeks, I am more convinced than ever that if Gore doesn’t run we’re fucked and nobody even hasta unzip their pants ta do it. I am on record right now, if Mrs. Clinton wins the nomination I will not only not vote for her but I will actively work within the party to create a protest vote against her.
And is anyone else deeply disappointed in Shapiro’s interview…I plug into Salon everyday and check his stuff out when I’m searchin fer Glen’s work and I’m really depressed with that droolin’ banjo set a questions for the wicked witch from Arkansas.
KEEP THE FAITH, IT AIN’T DIFFICULT TA FIND THE GOOD GUYS BUT HE MIGHT NOT RUN!!
Boston1775 @ 73
And doing very well – your posts never fail to inform and you write beautifully as well. Kudos and thanks for all your immeasurable contributions on the front page and in the comments.
Phoenix Woman @ 35
In that case, Voter Cage Guy Tim needs to know about the Cryng Game.
JPL @ 71
MSNBC says Bloomberg has changed party registration from R to “unaffilliated.” He was a D previoously but became an R to bypass Dem primary for mayor of NY.
As an independent, Bloomberg could self-finance as much as $500M (according to some estimates). Under the Unity08 deal, he could raise even more…
Bloomberg leaves Republican party
to pursue futile presidential ambitions:http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes……can-party/
NBC News NYC Mayor Bloomberg is pulling out of the Republican Party so he can run (maybe) as a centrist independent. The center so far is made up of Joe Lieberman. So I guess it just doubled in size.
Wow! Shuster has Eugene Robinson and Bill Press dissecting Dreir’s defense of Rudy and going after the rest of the R candidates as well.
Hugh @ 79
Bloomberg is a good deal further left than HoJo.
1,553 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND..
Citizen Pheonix Woman:
Hang in there dear, your clear voice of reason from the great state a Minnesota is a breath a fresh air thru the blogosphere. Don’t start doubtin’ yerself for sayin what hasta be said and lookin’ where we are tryin’ not ta see.
Keep up the good work and…
KEEP THE FAITH AND DO THE WORK…ALWAYS DO THE WORK!!
*xyz @ 78
Yeah. He could buy himself the NYC Mayor’s chair for $100 million (and the luxury of a really weak Dem opponent who pissed everyone off), but he’s going to need much stronger political skills than he has to buy the White House.
He reminds me of another media guy who thought all he needed was raw cash to win the presidency: Steve Forbes.
dakine01 @ 80
more, please
ccmask @ 43
I thought that was an interesting question. lol
dmac wins the book in my opinion. Should I congratulate her?
And PW, I agree with Boston. Truth hurts sometimes.
Hugh @ 79
I would never compare Bloomberg to Liebercreep. He is much smarter–and more honest. You get what you “see” with him, like it or not.
Bloomberg fits the bill of centrist. Liebercreep not so much. I would call him a reactionary.
And speaking of Digby–is she speaking at this shindig?
Just a friendly reminder that switching screen names is frowned upon and sock puppeting is reason to be banned from the Lake.
Thanks.
dmac lost & won the book?
Dmac. Do you really want it?
dakine01 @ 81
If Bloomberg returned to the Democratic Party and openly renounced the Republican Party, renounced the tactics that he used during the Republican convention, and if he got down on his knees and begged for forgiveness, maybe I could consider him as being a viable candidate.
Shipping is FREE!
ccmask @ 86
spideysense?
i received a response to the three letters i wrote to obama about mudcat—all the same, all three:
Dear Friend,
Thank you for contacting Obama for America (OFA) about the recent personal blog post written by OFA’s outside counsel, Bob Bauer, regarding the Lewis “Scooter” Libby case. We appreciate hearing from you.
Senator Obama opposes a pardon and strongly believes that Libby should be held accountable for his actions, including serving jail time. Mr. Bauer was speaking on his own behalf and his views do not represent Senator Obama’s or the campaign’s.
Thank you again for contacting us.
Sincerely,
Obama for America
=====
i’m, going to write back that when i worked for the phone company, i was told that my behavior reflected upon the company…i had a job where i was out in the public….i would think that working for a campaign and being in the public eye would be the same thing,.
there was a sign at the garage over a full-length mirror-
would your wife let you into your home? meaning, would your wife believe that someone dressed like you was from the phone company?
it was further stressed that our conduct was the phone company and to act accordingly….was part of the personal code of conduct that we had to sign, and the union couldn’t get you out of it.
i was an installer and then a splicer….and yes, i’m a female..was one of the first in the field……and i don’t say that often.
so don’t tell me mudcat doesn’t represent obama….it’s business, and anyone who works for you represents you, and he is being naive thinking anything else, therefore my saying he looks out hotel windows, but doesn’t see the world view.
Well, best news of the day so far:
John Yoo, take that, and that, and that! Now go back to Law school, you bad boy, and write out the U.S. Constitution by hand 6 times!!!
Bob in HI
Loo Hoo. @ 93
maybe if you threw in a couple bucks…
dakine01 @ 80
Oooh, oooh! More, please!
What is sock puppeting?
Elliot, I wasn’t surprised about Bloomberg, were you? He hasn’t declared yet, but it’s just a matter of time. Let’s face it, with that slew of republicans, there’s no hope for and of them. This also looks like a sign that the republican brand will not go far in ‘08.
D. Moore @ 99
commenting under more than one name.
Bob Schacht @ 95
Holy crap! And that’s the goddamned Fourth Circuit, the wingnuttiest of them all, the one the Federalist Society has worked the hardest on conquering.
Wow.
I disagree with those who would draw a sharp distinction between Bloomberg and Lieberman.
Never forget – Bloomberg put a ton of effort and resources into helping Lieberman in the CT general election.
Over at Huffpo Cenk Uygur says Sherrod Brown is saying his vote for the Military Commissions Act was a mistake. About time there, Sherrod, but let’s see how long it takes to repeal it and what you do to achieve that end.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..52767.html
Huffpo also has an article about Scalia arguing that 24’s Jack Bauer should not be charged with torture. Here’s a clue for you, Antonin. As Andrew Sullivan notes, Jack Bauer is a fictional character. Not that facts were ever Scalia’s strong point.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlan….._tort.html
Bob Schacht @ 96
thank goodness
are we pulling back from the abyss?
*xyz @ 103
That was heartbreaking, BTW. Unexpected, well…
Elliott @ 97
That is funny. I took a pic of the book for everyone here.
*xyz @ 103
FWIW Bloomberg was a lifelong Democrat until the 2001 Mayoral election
Loo Hoo. @ 100
He sure is making all the moves to, he’s got the money. He seems to like being the mayor, he’s got the money. And Lord knows, you can’t take that money with you. What’s he got to lose but the race?
SO, what does this do to the 2008 general election?
*xyz @ 103
who’d of thunk we’d see a day when TWO NY mayors ran for president.
Not saying it’s a good thing….as I have said b4, I regard Guiliani as the most deranged and dangerous of the entire repub freak parade.
Don’t know much about Bloomberg except that he’s a gazillionaire and speaks like a true New Yawkah.
Just……who’d of thunk it.
i’m on dial up, so have to screen over comments, then read them…takes a while. i end up epu’d.
YEAH, i’d read the book! but you should read it first…..being informed includes other views. understanding where they are coming from helps in discourse, and how to attack back.
i read everything, i even read rush’s book. and i don’t need brain bleach, kicked it out all on my own…
BUT sorry pw, one rare thing i cuoldn’t read, but i am glad you posted it for those who did need to read it….i couldn’t read the torture post…i’m very visual, and it sticks in my brain, only need a little taste of something like that, even the mild picture i said, damn pw, why did you not include a warning? but you did in the title…
i can picture it, and if have more than that can’t get it out of my head, like a jingle that sticks in your head…..i don’t even look at car wrecks when i pass by them….too much…enough to know there was a tragedy.
i know what trauma is, and once you know that, you don’t need details.
someday i hope to graduate fromj that, but that’s where it is, now.
obviously quite a few q’s i’ld rather have been asked: on caging/griffin, libby, w’s signing statements, etc. but one thing that really needs to be brought up re: iraq, and nobody in msm (and hardly anyone in blogosphere) has so much as whispered about it. and that is the ECONOMIC war we’re fighting there: dismissal of the civil servants, rules for farmers and what they can plant, selling off iraqi banking to 3 foreign financiers, oil wells, the privatization and selloff of the iraqi commons, the enforced 15% flat tax rate to be enforced for 2004 and all subsequent years, and no tariff protection whatsoever. palast mentioned some of these a while ago as New World Orders number 12, 37,39 and 40 (see pp.71-74 of the new paperback version of Armed Madhouse), and today i ran across another reminder at http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/8197 which also cited holland on alternet from last year.
iraq is not all about troops and civil war and ‘freedom’. it’s about out-of-control wetdream free-market fallacies that the american people need to hear about.
as far as the candidates’ answers, i was surprised that hillary answered “no permanent bases/presence”. what does she or any politician or talking head think is going to happen to the world’s largest embassy and all the bases/airstrips we’ve built and are using? do people really think that after stirring up the hornets’ nest (on purpose, thank you pnac) we’re going to let anyone but us use those acres of stuff?
ccmask @ 107
dmac, you have my sincere condolences.
ccmask, that’s a glorious pic.
oddmommy@110 – Actually Bloomberg is from Boston.
The Repubs have become the party of the Christian right and a large percentage will vote against abortion or gay marriage, the fiscal conservatives would jump ship to Bloomberg, successful business man, and the rest of the independents and dems would do what’? If Bloomberg enters the race, who does he hurt more?
Helen @ 108
It ain’t worth anything.
Whatever his reasons, Bloomberg crossed to the Republican side of the aisle during the administration of the worst and most dangerous president in our nation’s history.
History will record that Bloomberg helped this president and his party to retain power in the 2004 elections. Then he helped Lieberman win in 2006. This is Bloomberg’s legacy.
dmac @ 112
Email Christy the shipping address and I’ll send it out UPS tomorrow. Angel trumpet not included.
Elliott @ 104
Hold the phone — I visited the diary and this is about the earlier 4th circuit decision, which the Bushies are already appealing to the ‘en banc’ 4th circuit. It still may stand, but the 4th’s chock-full of ‘wingers.
Helen @ 114
you sh*ttin’ me???
guess I’ve been living in the south too long….
[slinks away red faced]
Bob Schacht @ 96
There is HOPE! Thanks for that link!
Shuster Rocks!
“In light of al-Marri’s due process rights under our
Constitution and Congress’s express prohibition in the Patriot Act
on the indefinite detention of those civilians arrested as
terrorist aliens within this country, we can only conclude that
in the case at hand, the President claims power that far exceeds
that granted him by the Constitution.”
We do not question the President’s war-time authority over
enemy combatants; but absent suspension of the writ of habeas
corpus or declaration of martial law, the Constitution simply does
not provide the President the power to exercise military authority
over civilians within the United States. See Toth, 350 U.S. at 14
([A]ssertion of military authority over civilians cannot rest on
the President’s power as commander-in-chief, or on any theory of
martial law.). The President cannot eliminate constitutional
protections with the stroke of a pen by proclaiming a civilian,
even a criminal civilian, an enemy combatant subject to indefinite
military detention. Put simply, the Constitution does not allow
the President to order the military to seize civilians residing
within the United States and detain them indefinitely without
criminal process, and this is so even if he calls them enemy
combatants.“
So, since he did this anyway, including torturing people, can we impeach him now, please????? I’ve had it with the gansta.
JPL @ 115
I think he hurts the Republicans (smiling)
Phoenix Woman @ 118
see how desperate I am for respite?
*xyz @ 102
Not to worry xyz – unforgettable and unforgivable
PW – You’re wonderful. I’m a fan of yours. But I think you should turn your talents toward focusing on the system that produces flawed and corruptible candidates for congress). This system — our republican form of government — does not work correctly. Congress does not serve as an effective check against the executive branch, because members of congress need money in huge amounts to get re-elected. Hence, they are corruptible. In my opinion, the remedy is an overhaul, which transfers more voting power to individual voters, rednecks or not. I’d trust my fate any day to any group of citizens chosen at random than to the individuals who are in congress.
oddmommy @ 119
I ain’t sh*ttin’ you. When he first came to NY to run, he seriously sounded like he was from Boston. He’s lost a lot of that accent during his 6 yrs as Mayor (and has picked up a good amount of NY tawk), but we here in NY hear it all the time.
Loo Hoo. @ 120
see how desperate we are for respite?
Twain @ 123
I hope your right. I think that it depends on who the dem candidate is. The repubs have to go with an anti-something candidate because that’s what the repubs do.
Helen @ 127
well, I NEVAH. How ’bout that.
New thread upstairs. I got numero uno and dos ;>
Tweety,
Three New Yorkers running.
Fineman: The republican party is coming apart giving Bloomberg an advantage. Immigration and Iraq war. He wants to lay down a marker now, while things have never been worse. Kicks Fred.
and i have to say, i went to woody guthrie’s guitar, wgg token librul’s site today, and he had bonnie raitt’s ‘everybody’s crying mercy’ on the post….one of my favorite songs..written by mose allison….
would have been appropriate for the last post-
one of my favorite songs to play way back when; when havin’ a buzz, feelin’ pain for the world late at night and noone around.
if i sang in public, i would do this song… slow jazz style.
i’m on dial up so it’s still downloading, been a while, i’m sure it’s worth it, been in my head since i saw it on his site.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=y8a91Hrv1us
Thanks, LS!
New thread here: http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..ooks-like/
oddmommy @ 101
Thanks, OMom!
Wouldn’t that be kinda schizophrenic?
Jonathan @ 126
Jonathan: http://www.PublicCampaign.org.
They’re the Clean Elections people, and they’re working to do just what you suggest: Get the money out of politics by substituting public funding.
speaking of torture
I don’t know when this hearing took place
HISTORY ON C-SPAN
Investigating Abu Ghraib Prison
This week a news article alleges a cover-up on the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse situation extending all the way to fmr. Defense Sec. Donald Rumsfeld. Tonight we present congressional hearings with Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard Myers. Also, Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba testifies on the subject.
TUES., C-SPAN3, 8PM ET
and don’t forget Frontline tonight
Sorry Elliott and PW…My connection dropped for about 20 minutes and I just got back…
edit: 30 minutes…
dakine01 @ 138
I thought maybe we chased you away!
ccmask
angel trumpet-brugmansia? or something like that……
had them by my front door for two years, quite the ziggy thing when they bloom.
wintered them over, but this year, they aren’t doing too well…
we’ll see.
i have a friend that rotates them, the year old’s she puts in pots, the two year olds that will be too big she buries in the ground, i have already been able to appreciate their fragrance this yearat her gardens…fragrance isn’t enough of a word to describe them….theyare overwhelming..tried to talk a friend of mine in florida to plant them all across his back yard, he hasn’t done it yet…i wish he would, he would be so satisfied by them.
uplifting.
and thanks for the book, i’m on a tight budget lately. mom just gave me 10, i’m almost through them already, none of them political darnit. but i’m a book fiend, so any are great.
*xyz @ 103
Which I am sure Bloomberg regrets, since one of the 1st things Joe did was screw NYC (once again) on homeland security $$$. Bloomberg made a very angry speech about this, and it was clear as to who it was directed toward.
dmac @ 95
___________
You tell’em, sister Buckeye!
dmac @ 140
ccmask-
funny great visual at 107, i didn’;t follow it, cuz i thought it was a link to amazon, and i’m on dialup, so i don’t follow links unless i know what theyare……
but with angel’s trumpets………if you have the chance to have one,please do……..and i sent my info to christie…….
my best to you
ccmask @ 31
Yeah. And the corollary everything most people know is wrong.
i’m listening to the rizzo hearing now (c-span)… and if his nomination is confirmed, i will be very disappointed in our senators.
What’s striking is how different the interviewers were. The person who interviewed Obama and Richardson was somewhat of a sycophant and both candidates clearly perceived that and took advantage of it. Who could blame them?
The person who interviewed Clinton was also someone she knew and who liked her. But the interview was not sycophantic. Clinton got the message across that she is the voice of experience. She came across as something of a straight shooter.
What would be helpful would be a database of candidate interviews. Then we could read the candidates’ positions and responses across a range of skilled (and unskilled) interviewers.
And I say this as someone who has despised both Ms. Clinton and her husband for their plasticity and their idiotic Third Way politics.
“Let ‘er rip.”
You bet, Phoenix! :o)
This was “the pablum hour”, is what this crap was.
I think there was one semi-tough question, when Shapiro asked HRC how many troops she envisioned being in Iraq 6 months into her administration, and she shat the bullshit in positively bushian style.
“I cannot give you a figure because I haven’t really decided whether or not it was actually a mistake to fuck the rabid Mesopotamian Rottweiller. I’m watching the polls closely, and waiting patiently, and I will get back to you as soon as the voters let me know about that.”
Of Richardson:
Since the interviewer admitted that he’s something of a hawk, it was pretty much of a dead lock that we weren’t going to get any questions about whether Richardson thinks that the utterly bogus “unity” that we see in Iraq will continue when the american troops enforcing it (in it’s already bloody glory) start leaving.
Likewise, this hardnosed newshound MIGHT have asked the guvnor what he thought about the constitutionally mandated “referendum” that is to take place in Kirkuk by the end of the year. And what effect formal control of Kirkuk and the nearby oil fields, by the Kurds, might have on events up there.
But he didn’t.
Also, since this was published, yesterday (Tuesday) it’s safe to assume that the interview occurred within the past few days, if not the day before. That means that Richardson could have been asked what he thought about CentCom starting to arm groups of Sunni insurgents who were formerly attacking our troops. He could have phrased it like this:
“Governor, how can the bush administration (and CentCom) talk about the importance of disarming militias, when they’re arming groups of Sunnis who earlier were killing our troops? That sounds like they’re just picking sides in the civil war that most people agree is already going on in Iraq.”
Of Obama’s “interview”, all you need to do on THAT, is speed-read through it and note that the word “Iraq” does not appear in the entire piece. :o)
Which is strange, considering that Obama does NOT have support for it, to apologize for, on HIS record.
No, Phoenix; this was:
“Mr. Rogers does the candidates!” foo-foo bullshit. :o)
Can you dig up anything halfway equivalent for John Edwards? Let’s don’t let him snarf the goorple, either. :o)
JPL @ 32
Pretty solid answer.
Oh, shit! Almost forgot.
They should ALL have been asked:
“Why do you think that none of the major democratic candidates, including yourself, have pointed out that george bush, the man responsible for creating this clustre d’phuque, can start bringing our troops home tomorrow MORNING with a flick of his wrist, presumably helped by the rest of the republicans in congress, who were nearly unanimous in supporting the sending of those troops?”
I wonder, is Mike Bloomberg a friend of Rupert “News Corp” Murdoch?
This just reminds me of the ‘92 race where the field had a 3rd (Perot) and the Republicans blamed him endlessly for stealing their votes.
Is Bloomberg just there to divide the Giuliani vote? Is he there to shield Hillary from the Right the way Obama shields her from the Left? Just how many billions are being spent to ensure Hilary gets the nomination?
Every time she’s interviewed the person doing the interview always remarks with great surprise how she’s seen the light and moved to the left and is arguing for troop withdrawal from Iraq. But, later, with more objectivity, when one reads the transcript she’s saying the same old thing over and over — withdrawal, but with 20,000 to stay forever (and presumably do some non-torturing).
When are people going to realize Hilary is NOT Liberal and might not even be a Democrat. I’d bet she and Bloomberg would make a good ticket, but I’m not sure which would be the Democrat and which the Republican.
–Also, since this was published, yesterday (Tuesday) it’s safe to assume that the interview occurred within the past few days, if not the day before.
The conversation took place Friday morning, about 10:30 am Central Time. I had 5 minutes, that became about 10. I ended cutting half my questions.
– Of Obama’s “interview”, all you need to do on THAT, is speed-read through it and note that the word “Iraq” does not appear in the entire piece.
Understand I spoke with Obama LAST spring while he was in town campaigning for the Dems victorious Senate candidate. So the context was slightly different.
The sycophant comment was interesting. Let’s just say that I prefer the ‘friendly’ interview over the potential ‘burn the bridge’ combatant ones. I am appreciative of the time these individuals are willing to give to a blue collar blogger like me. I would rather have access, than no access at all. Think smart so to speak.
A special thanks to those who visited and appreciated their visit to Centrisity!
Flash
Centrisity.com
PW, While doing some research, I stumbled on candidates@google, and highly recommend the interview with Bill Richardson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmDQ7GswIq0
I refuse to watch ‘Beauty Pageant’ pseudo-debates, in which candidates are expected to explain the Fate Of The World in under 2 minutes. In contrast, the candidates@google.com has an hour long conversation, and Google employees ask questions of the candidate. There is not a single ‘inside the beltway’ question, but there are a number of excellent questions (about the economy, about science and technology) that Beltway Insiders would probably never ask.
In the last five minutes of the video, Richardson explains the linkages between a number of key issues: Transportation > Global Warming > Federal Highway Funding Bills > Urban Design and Smart Growth. It blew my mind; these issues have been festering for years, and they’re extremely expensive. But they’ve never been addressed well at the federal level.
(BTW: I remember when Al Gore raised the issue of Smart Growth back in 2000, and Dean Broder and the rest of the Beltway Press yawned and acted like Nobody Important would ever be interested in the relationship between city planning and gas consumption — yet Richardson explains how these are connected. I found the Google format, as well as Richardson’s responses, very refreshing.
————–
BTW: Google also has excellent author interviews. I highly recommend the one with Paul Hawkens, whose “Blessed Unrest” is insightful and energizing. If you don’t realize how outdated accounting practices have enabled us to ignore the ‘external’ costs of resource use, watch Paul Hawkens.
Bill Richardson has the best and most specific answers to the questions that the next president would face.
Obama has nothing of substance to offer.
Hillary’s comment about Turkey was misleading and strategically incorrect as represented by the following commentary. “Our troops and their equipment will be extremely vulnerable. There are only two ways to get them out. One [is] through the north through Turkey — and you recall that Turkey did not allow us to move troops through their country [at the start of the war]. So therefore, we will have to go south.” The reason Turkey did not allow the U.S. to come from the north was not because Bush the elder shortchanged Turkey $8 billion dollars for the damages done in the Iraq 1 war. The reason was that it was against the Turkey Constitution. In their “congress” it was clearly stated that if Bush would wait just two weeks and then have a legal basis for entering Iraq then Turkey would support the safer entrance from the North.
Shorter Flash:
“I would rather have the chance to schmooze with one of the top candidates, and have him on my blog, while studiously avoiding asking him the tough questions, than not have him at all.”
So, Flash, are you saying that questions about Iraq, a year ago, were not worth asking, at the same time you were:
“…so honored to have this opportunity.”
You did a puff-piece. Deal with it.
BTW, Flash, my comment about the timing of the interview was about RICHARDSON’s interview, not Obama’s.
You could have asked:
“Senator, what makes you think that when we DO pull our troops out (withdrawal already being a serious topic, a year ago) that the joint Mesopotamian Choir will start harmonizing on Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”?
You could have asked:
“Don’t you think it’s possible that by the democrats unwillingess to depict, and talk about, the reality of what is going on in Iraq, and what is VERY likely to go on, are we start withdrawing, that that means that you are voluntarily sharing the GOP’s responsiblity for dispensing more of the same koolaid and snakeoil that bush and the republicans have been peddling since before the war?”
5 minutes is such a short period of time. Yes, the Obama piece was a friendly puffy piece. My first high profile interview I was offered only a few days before his arrival. With Richardson, I wanted to make sure I spent some time on Iraq and have been criticized by not talking more about immigration. But again, 5 minute window, with a handler looking at their watch every 30 seconds. In both cases I felt rushed. I look forward to having another opportunity with the Governor, and am working on an audience with other candidates as they make their way to Minnesota.
Blogging is a hobby, balanced with a wife, three teenagers a marine on active duty along with a full time job. I do the best I can with the moments I have available in the Blogosphere. I think I hold my own pretty well!
Thanks again!
Flash
Centrisity.com
Flash; thanks for the response.