Clinton Bucks The Trend and Rakes in Cash From The US Weapons Industry
The US arms industry is backing Hillary Clinton for President and has all but abandoned its traditional allies in the Republican party. Mrs Clinton has also emerged as Wall Street’s favourite. Investment bankers have opened their wallets in unprecedented numbers for the New York senator over the past three months and, in the process, dumped their earlier favourite, Barack Obama.
Mrs Clinton’s wooing of the defence industry is all the more remarkable given the frosty relations between Bill Clinton and the military during his presidency. An analysis of campaign contributions shows senior defence industry employees are pouring money into her war chest in the belief that their generosity will be repaid many times over with future defence contracts.
Employees of the top five US arms manufacturers - Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop-Grumman, General Dynamics and Raytheon - gave Democratic presidential candidates $103,900, with only $86,800 going to the Republicans. “The contributions clearly suggest the arms industry has reached the conclusion that Democratic prospects for 2008 are very good indeed,” said Thomas Edsall, an academic at Columbia University in New York.
Republican administrations are by tradition much stronger supporters of US armaments programmes and Pentagon spending plans than Democratic governments. Relations between the arms industry and Bill Clinton soured when he slimmed down the military after the end of the Cold War. His wife, however, has been careful not to make the same mistake.
After her election to the Senate, she became the first New York senator on the armed services committee, where she revealed her hawkish tendencies by supporting the invasion of Iraq. Although she now favours a withdrawal of US troops, her position on Iran is among the most warlike of all the candidates - Democrat or Republican.
This week, she said that, if elected president, she would not rule out military strikes to destroy Tehran’s nuclear weapons facilities. While on the armed services committee, Mrs Clinton has befriended key generals and has won the endorsement of General Wesley Clarke, who ran Nato’s war in Kosovo. A former presidential candidate himself, he is spoken of as a potential vice-presidential running mate.
Mrs Clinton has been a regular visitor to Iraq and Afghanistan and is careful to focus her criticisms of the Iraq war on President Bush, rather than the military. The arms industry has duly taken note.
So far, Mrs Clinton has received $52,600 in contributions from individual arms industry employees. That is more than half the sum given to all Democrats and 60 per cent of the total going to Republican candidates. Election fundraising laws ban individuals from donating more than $4,600 but contributions are often “bundled” to obtain influence over a candidate.
The arms industry has even deserted the biggest supporter of the Iraq war, Senator John McCain, who is also a member of the armed services committee and a decorated Vietnam War veteran. He has been only $19,200. Weapons-makers are equally unimpressed by the former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Despite a campaign built largely around the need for an aggressive US military and a determination to stay the course in Iraq, he is behind Mrs Clinton in the affections of arms executives. Mr Giuliani may be suffering because of his strong association with the failed policies of President Bush and the fact he is he is known as a social liberal.
Mrs Clinton’s closest competitor in raising cash from the arms industry is the former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who raised just $32,000.
“Arms industry profits are so heavily dependent on government contracts that companies in this field want to be sure they do not have hostile relations with the White House,” added Mr Edsall.
The industry’s strong support for Mrs Clinton indicates that she is their firm favourite to win the Democratic nomination in the spring and the presidential election in November 2008. In the last presidential race, George Bush raised more than $800,000 - twice the sum collected by his Democratic rival John Kerry.
Mr Edsall’s analysis of the figures reveals that, over the past 10 years, the defence industry has favoured Republicans over Democrats by a 3-2 margin, making Mrs Clinton’s position even more remarkable.
© 2007 The Independent
Hillary Clinton is a real militant warmonger unlike her husband who was a bit softer and not as neocon. Wall Street backs her because she is for selling out American jobs to the lowest bidders.
Vote Democrat, vote war.
Disgusting.
America is likely to have a choice next year: a bellicose ally of the military-industrial complex (Clinton) or a Republican neo-con. I am glad we have a democracy that allows voters to choose every four years.
GOD DAMNIT, POSTERS! WAKE UP AND ORGANIZE BEHIND THIS GUY AND QUIT YOUR FUCKING NIT-PICKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.dennis4president.com/home/
Um, yay?
Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop-Grumman, General Dynamics and Raytheon, your public servants. We’re punch bitches for these mega-corps, they make SPECTRE in “Dr. No” look like the Salvation Army. Clinton is a working girl obedient to her pimp, no way in hell she’s ever held office without dutiful respect and subservience.
The arms industry is excited about their the prospects of having a female whore in the white house for a change, they’ve tired of their boy toys.
I am disgusted and appalled by the progressive purists who are determined to drag down Hillary’s historic campaign.
You’re completely ignoring inconvenient truths about H. Clinton’s administration, such as the assurance that Gitmo detainees will have a chicken and two kinds of fruit in every pot!
Wall Street and the defense industry are supporting Mrs. Clinton? (With SOME of their dollars, anyway?)
Good!!!!!
If they weren’t, they’d be supporting Giuliani, Romney, or Thompson with those same dollars.
You have two choices.
You can vote for the money party (doesn’t matter which flavor, they’re both the same).
Or you can take your country back, rewrite the contitution for the benefit of living human beings (NOT corporations!), arrest, try and punish those guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, dismantle your perverse death machine and it’s mercenary parasites, and stop invading other nations trying to steal a supply of steadily dwindling resources.
If you vote for the Dems, you will go to war. If you vote Republican, you will go to war. The lesser of two evils is still evil. And small evils have a nasty habit of metasticising into great evils. The ’small’ evil of not opposing the Supreme Court appointment of Bush to the Whitehouse has led to the ‘great’ evil of two countries invaded and smashed, the largets deficit in the history of your nation, an economy in shambles, and a THIRD war being threatened that could easily become the single defining end to technological civilization on this planet.
America, it’s time to put on your big girl panties and deal with it.
As my daddy once told me :”If you want to see where a person’s loyalties lie, follow the money.”
Same money as Bush - What a surprise! And we thought she was making a mistake when she voted for war. She was just setting up her defense industry financing.
Her Wal-Mart outsourcing credentials appear to be good enough for Wall Street.
This backing does not assure her of winning anything other than the nomination, however. (you thought the nomination result is not preordained? Dream on.)
This defense money is the same source that poured money into Kerry’s coffers early so he could get the early jump on all the other stronger contenders. I could be wrong but it seemed to me at the time the money was backing the only candidate sure to lose to Bush. Bush was so unpopular that Kerry was surprisingly strong. Enter the Swift-boats; check where that money came from. Kerry still almost was declared winner except for a little Ohio skullduggery. He then followed orders and caved in (sound familiar) without giving claims of voter fraud time to be investigated as he had promised - (”I’ll hang in there, if any questions arise.”
The money is sure that she cannot win the presidency so watch where the money goes after she is officially the “warrior princess-to-be).
GALEN: Some good points!
Here’s the interesting thing, take a look at these statistics (as cited by the article): “So far, Mrs Clinton has received $52,600 in contributions from individual arms industry employees.” That is absolute CHUMP change to the defense industry! Think about the inordinate return on those dollars of “investment.” Think about the billions being OK’d for new weapons, those that will inevitably rip some innocent women, children, decent men and freedom fighters to bits… meanwhile, as if comedically placed in our midst for not such comic relief, health care for children in the “land of the brave” is viciously cut. I cannot conceive in my wildest imagination of leadership as delinquent in its intended charge as this one, and that’s both wings of the same tainted bird!
Again, let’s study the mindset of the Dem Party apologist.
Daniel writes (1:10 pm) Wall Street and the defense industry are supporting Mrs. Clinton? (With SOME of their dollars, anyway?)
Good!!!!! — If they weren’t, they’d be supporting Giuliani, Romney, or Thompson with those same dollars.
You see, it’s always a matter of pointing at Republican bogeymen (with whom the Dems shamelessly & daily collaborate, anyhow). What Daniel is saying is that if we bomb Iran, if we continue lawlessly murdering people in Iraq, if we continue letting the military-industrial complex run the country, if we continue to violate our own Constitution, it’s better that we do it with Democrats in office. If your children get blown up in the next war, it’s better that it happens with Democrats in office. If Wall St steals your pensions & ships your jobs overseas, it’s better that it happens with Democrats in office.
And don’t forget that as long as the Democrats exist, & people continue to accept the 2-party system, there is NO PROSPECT WHATSOEVER that you will ever get a better “choice” than the one you face today: constant war & plutocracy, under Republicans, or under Democrats.
Funny, I was following a link on a news item that led me to a right wing web site. The comments there used the word ‘whore’ alot, in conjuntion with Progressives and Democrats. I am not ever going to vote for Hillary, primarily because of privacy and anti-government snooping concerns.
But I don’t expect real Progressives (or Democrats) to stoop to using the word ‘whore’ so consistently when describing Clinton.
There’s so many more articulate ways to present anti-Hillary views.
Makes me wonder how many commenters really belong to the other camp.
I’m sure Hillary will reward those in the Military Industrial Complex with a nice little war or two for supporting her candidacy.
Siouxrose: As the gag goes -
‘The Mouse kill my freind. So I say death to the Mouse. But I say it from over here.’
As long as corporations are accorded the legal fiction of ‘personhood’ they will continue to act in their best interests (creating wealth for the shareholder), which is commonly at odds with the best interest of the public (health, welfare, safety…list is TOO long).
At some point there MUST be a discussion on how to break the corporate stanglehold they have on politicians, and hold the same politicians responsible for every law passed that favors the corporations and endagers the public. Corporate PACs must be forcibly and legally disbanded, with criminal prosecution for those members who have acted against the common good and safety.
As for the politicians who accept corporate monies to fund their activities, and who act against the common good, they should be prosecuted as well, and punished according to the severity of the crimes they helped commit. Aiding and abbetting is aiding and abbetting, especially if they profited professionally or personally from eneacting laws that protected corporations from legal prosecution.
Gee, what a surprise.
The answer is not “support Kucinich!” or “damn Hillary the whore!” As president, neither would have any choice except to support the military-industrial complex — there’s too many jobs in too many states at stake; Americans would never permit it.
The only difference here is that Hillary is getting money from them and Kucinich isn’t.
The answer is to dismantle the M-I complex. And that’s not gonna happen until the empire crashes and the complex crashes with it.
Got that?
Zoya: Any bets that they will dismantle the Halliburton built ‘detention facilities’? Or prosecute the mercenary killers of Blackwater?
Didn’t think so.
The MIC (k-e-y m-o-u-s-e) is not going to sit idly by and let the golden opportunity of bombing the living crap out of another innocent country to pass them by. War is good for their bottom line, uses up excess inventory, spurs development of new and bloodier ways to turn children into hamburger, and supports the economy of the Inbred States of Imbecilia.
And Bushco is prepared to meet any mass public anti-war protest head on. The afore mentioned Halliburton camps, Blackwater goons and Microwave Area Denial systems are ready to go. New Orleans was just a (war) god-sent test case.
Kathy Heckman: What word would you use to describe a woman who lays on her back for money?
If the choice in November 2008 is Hillary Clinton or a Republican, I’m going with the Republican. With a Republican as President, we will at least get some housecleaning in the Democratic Party. With Hillary Clinton as President, we get nothing except a continuation of the Bush administration.
RichM,
I’m beginning to think that the more you take it upon yourself to put labels on Daniel David and re-explain to folks here what he is “saying”, the more you’re telling your readers you believe they’re all too dumb to “get it” without your indispensable help.
I think they might have already understood that I indeed do believe that events will keep happening, and that having Democrats in control is preferable to having Republicans in control.
Free Quark: Oh goodie. A real live Quisling. I didn’t think there were any of you left. No doubt you would’ve thought Marshall Petain was a good choice for Vichy France too. I’m sure you would’ve also supported ‘Lord Haw-haw’ in England at the same time.
Should your dream come to pass, and the Republicans retain control of the US govermnent, I will look forward to you seeing your child off, heading for the insane meatgrinder of the Middle East conflict.
Oh wait… Hillary suppored the Kyl-Leibermann amendment that Bushco will no doubtedly use to nuke Iran.
Won’t that be a feather in the Republican cap?
I’d like to get a “Challenge Hillary Clinton” campaign going… stickers in every city and populous area, to raise the sentiment that we CAN challenge inevitably. Subversive messages that you’d see at the crosswalk or on a stop sign driving to and fro work.
Contact me through my website if you’re interested or think it could be effective.
To Kathy’s comment about using the term “whore”:
I called Condi Rice a Warho in my one design. You have to see it to get it, but plenty of people have called it brilliant, and I’ve had discussions with those offended as well. But if no one ever disagrees with what you’re saying, you’re never saying anything. Much as I’d love to fittingly describe Hillary as “Horporate”, that’s not really going to change any minds. Although I totally understand where progressives are coming from, and I don’t think it’s “the other side” calling her a whore. Using fancy intelligent rhetoric can get tiring! Sometimes it’s a bit easier to just call something as it is. People GET my Warho design for exactly that reason. It is what it is, no intellectual noodling required. And what, pray tell, is Hillary doing with moneyed interests? The metaphor is just too spot-on…
Peace czar: Amen, brother. Amen.
Let’s get the spotlight on this sad reality —
and try to get the candidates to shun contributions from the MIIC . . . .
Otherwise, we’re simply voting for the next war — !!!
Clinton is a military whore!?!? What a shocker!
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Dem - Repub, no difference, just different sides of the same coin - MIC for ever until China calls in the debt after we nuke Iran and it all comes crashing down. Better learn Chinese all you younger people.
Ms. Heckman’s points are well-taken.
I know it is easy to do when we men (and women too?) get angry, but in our criticism of Ms. Clinton, misoginistic remarks like “Whore” or “warrior queen” are not appropriate.
PJD: You would prefer genocidal feminine psychopath in the pay of the military industrial complex?
Except From The Progressive — Gore Vidal interview by David Barsamian (August 2006 Issue)
Q: Talk about the role of the opposition party, the Democrats.
Vidal: It isn’t an opposition party. I have been saying for the last thousand years that the United States has only one party—the property party. It’s the party of big corporations, the party of money. It has two right wings; one is Democrat and the other is Republican.
Q: What can people do to energize democracy?
Vidal: The tactic would be to go after smaller offices, state by state, school board, sheriff, state legislatures. You can turn them around and that doesn’t take much of anything. Take back everything at the grassroots, starting with state legislatures. That’s what Madison always said. I’d like to see a revival of state legislatures, in which I am a true Jeffersonian.
Q: Do you see any developments on the horizon that might suggest an alternative?
Vidal: Newton’s Third Law. I hope that law is still working. American laws don’t work, but at least the laws of physics might work. And the Third Law is: There is no action without reaction. There should be a great deal of reaction to the total incompetence of this Administration. It’s going to take two or three generations to recover what we had as of twenty years ago.
End of Interview
“Multinational corporations have become the governing institutions – determining for us how our food is grown and distributed, how we heat and light our homes, what poisons we breathe, drink and eat. Giant corporations largely decide what controversies get attention, how wealth is shared and distributed, what solutions are acceptable, who gets elected to public office and how the United States treats other nations. Citizens have lost our authority over the fundamental decisions that affect our lives. We are defined as “consumers,” left to choose between paper or plastic at the grocery store. We think it is time for this to change.” (from http://www.duhc.org/)
See How Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County has challenged multinational corporations at the grassroots level — and won. As Mr. Vidal said, and it’s been expressed repeatedly by others, such as Thom Hartmann, our only hope of taking our country back is through the grassroots level. It will not happen through the federal or state level (yet). All good things start small. Adopt this as your philosophy.
It seems that Hillary is to progressives what Giuliani is to the social conservatives. Progressives are expected to vote for Hillary, even though she disagrees with them on virtually all the important issues, because she is from the less conservative party, just as social conservatives are being pressured by corporate elites to vote for Rudy because he is from the less liberal party, even though he disagrees with them on their most important issues.
The chances of electing a non-warmonger this election cycle are remote. We just have to hope that by some miracle that Ms. Warmonger or Mr. Warmonger does not start WWIII before we have some sort of economic collapse or other triggering event that provides an opportunity to implement real change.
Heres a quote for all of you-
Trust in God. But keep your powder dry.
galen,
No, Just “genocidal psychopath in the pay of the military industrial complex” fully describes her just fine.
But, her election will be pretty much the turning point in western history, - the end of the age of enlightment and the start of a new mass-media technology-enabled dark age containing the combined sorrows of feudalism and capitalism. That is, at least until runaway global warming puts us all out of our misery.
Poor, optimistic, Marx; did he get the ultimate synthesis of the materialist dialectic wrong!
The U.S. arms industry/military industrial complex and Israel don’t need Republicans anymore, they’ve got warmonger/pro-war Hillary Clinton!
We still have more votes than they (Mil/Ind/cong/think-tank complex) do. The only questions that remain are: What is our price for our vote? Will we use them appropriatly or lose by selling out or by staying home on lelction day?
It is possible to write in candidates names when the designated choices dohn’t please you–think about it.
Poet: Yeah… and how did the last two ‘elections’ turn out? You may vote… but your votes don’t count.
For the unenlightened here is Websters dictionary definition of whore;
1. A female who engages in sexual acts for money.
2. A male who engages in sexual acts for money.
3. A venal or unscrupulous person.
My earlier comment implied a changing of the gender guard in the whoring racket, with emphasis on #3 above.
Have you read the names Bush has been called over the years? one of which has been “war mongering whore”, and that is nothing compared to other things he is consistently called. I don’t recall reading any comments implying we tone down the rhetoric on Bush, why should Hillary be exempt because she is a woman?
Galen–
At the every least “they” haven’t changed “me”. Our examples (even in casting a secret ballot) do count and do influence others and it has been proven over and over again that one vote here and there does make a difference in election outcomes.
Galen: Much respect and gratitude for the nod of support. On that same note, and because I had a recent run-in with a college provost disapproving of my Warho design, here’s my logic. I will also note that it was particularly disturbing to see a college representative at a liberal arts institution, supposed bastions of free speach to have such a knee-jerk reaction to “warHO”. Hyper-politically correctness can be a severe crutch to honest discourse. Anyway, had I written a response:
…If we are talking about racist/sexist implications, let’s go beyond the cultural implications of words to the literal consequences of personal choices and actions. Condoleeza Rice, whose actions and complicity in this Administration have resulted in the cultural destruction of Iraq, the death of millions, and the presumed war crimes (e.g rape) against countless women and others. To be a member of a Republican administration that has further disenfranchised countless African-Americans (voter fraud in both elections, severe neglect of New Orleans) and other minorities, as well as threatening a woman’s right of choice? Her actions speak volumes to systematic racism and sexism, yet a singular concrete example like my work draws more attention. Is that not, dare I say, more prejudical? But I said “ho”, so clearly I’m out of line. All the African-American women in New York who have seen the design must agree. Oh wait– they laughed with such guilty, cathartic pleasure it was unbecoming a lady. Living in Brooklyn is extremely sheltered. That’s my take on real prejudice in society, so just some food for thought.
Or, as the administration coos to each other after a day rife with criticism from the global populace: “Words and criticism will mutilate my body and soul, but clusterbombs preemptive unilateral strikes, and deceitful war profiteering will never hurt me.” You should see how that pacifies Cheney. He goes out like a LIGHTBULB with that one!
I keep going on about it, so here’s the design I was referring to:
http://www.bleedingheartsclub.com/index_files/Warho.htm
Poet: Or if you are Diebold et al. 10,000 votes here, 25,000 there.
Or throwing people off the voter registration lists because they share a name with convicted felon in another state. Or are told that the polling station they are at is incorrect, sent to another one, told it is incorrect, return to the first, only to be told the polls are closed.
Or you have yor brother appoint someone to oversee the recount, invalidate THOUSANDS of legitimate ballots cast in opposition to you, and have your ‘Brooks Brother mafia’ storm the recount station when you have just enough votes to swing the decision…
Money talks. You can’t fight Mammon with words. We the People Inc. must outcompete him.
Galen - “Oh goodie. A real live Quisling. I didn’t think there were any of you left. No doubt you would’ve thought Marshall Petain was a good choice for Vichy France too.”
The Vichy among us are the Democrats in Congress. Your argument seems to be: support Marshall Petain in a skirt or else you are a Vichy traitor, which makes no sense at all.
“Should your dream come to pass, and the Republicans retain control of the US govermnent, I will look forward to you seeing your child off, heading for the insane meatgrinder of the Middle East conflict.”
American soldiers are going to be dying in the Middle East whichever party is in power. My opinion is that we should allow the neo-conservative movement - which, let’s face it, has dominated both major parties ever since Reagan came to power - to go ahead and play itself out. Voting for Vichy Democrats will only delay this process, as we saw during the Clinton years.
Free Quark: The only thing I want to see is another sunrise. And another. And another.
As long as we have whack jobs who listen to their Military Industrial paymasters instead of the people, we are in danger.
Remember the old Scottish maxim: When it’s time to pay the piper, the Devil calls the tune.
ezeflyer, point taken
What’s wrong with calling Hillary a “Warrior Queen/Princess?” Bet she likes that title. And what’s wrong with calling her a whore? Male politicians are called “whores” if they have no integrity and will do anything for money, so why not call Hillary one? There’s no “sexism” involved in this case, and it’s not referring to a paid sex act.
Which reminds me, the thought of Bill the Lecher in the White House again makes me feel embarrassed for the country.
Daniel David October 19th, 2007 1:10 pm
“Wall Street and the defense industry are supporting Mrs. Clinton? (With SOME of their dollars, anyway?)
Good!!!!!
If they weren’t, they’d be supporting Giuliani, Romney, or Thompson with those same dollars.”
There’s a big difference between saying that the Democrats are the lesser evil and saying that something is OK if the Democrats are doing it.
Quick joke…
Man and woman are in court. Woman is being charged with assault. Judge asks what happened. Woman says man called her a two-bit whore. Judge asks man if he called her that. Man says yes. Judge asks woman what she did next. Woman says she got angry and hit the man. The judge looks at man, who has a huge lump on his head. The judge asks what the woman hit the man with. Woman replies ‘My sack of quarters!’
Good point and thanks for the Webster’s clarification, rebelnow. Honestly, if Clinton, Rice, or Albright want to be considered lady-like in the least, they might act with the slightest shard of COMPASSION in their actions. Heck, that ain’t lady-like, itt’s HUMAN-like in my book. Kucinich, Gravel and others know that just by being individuals with integrity and empathy for their fellow man.
***Also… one of my next designs is going to be a robot-like personification of the Military-Industrial-Complex. Sounds weird I know, but it’s gonna turn out great and hopefully provide a visually compelling representation of such an abstract, destructive entity. That said, please let me know if I’m missing any of its “components”
pharmaceuticals
CONG (coal/oil/nuclear/gas) energy
Petrochemical agriculture (pesticides, industrial farming, meat industry, etc)
Mass media
weapons manufacturers (everything under the sun)
auto-industry/highway systems (ie. NO mass transit)
And all of this is interconnected. Am I missing anything off the top of my head?
The unfortunate thing about so called democrazy in the United States of Israel. Firstly its about money. Specifically about corporate, military and defense endorsement. Secondly its about herding the sheep. The sheep being those people that vote at the “primaries”. These events are akin to the Nurumberg rallies that endorsed Hitler. The biggest loudest raz-a-ma-tazz wins. The careful psychological staging of these events costs money. Its like the bee dance. The best enthusiasm that money-honey can buy wins out.
Where does the money-honey come from? Why it comes from you, the taxpayer. And flows out of the government through the biggest drip feeders, corporate, military and defense. And they use your taxpayer money to buy their candidates, their policies,to get your vote again. When the money-honey becomes massive, the cancer is self feeding, and drains the rest of the nation of life and opposition. For justification and feed resources, weapons deployment and wars must follow, to maintain the international weapon trade.
The only cure is to stop the money-honey dance. Don’t vote for any candidate that receives massive defense or military funding. All the means of causing death in the world cannot save you from hell.
Peace czar: Nope.
Another politician out to prove herself true-blue with other people’s red blood….To repeat the much-repeated here: Disgusting.
Galen fumes:
Or throwing people off the voter registration lists because they share a name with convicted felon in another state. Or are told that the polling station they are at is incorrect, sent to another one, told it is incorrect, return to the first, only to be told the polls are closed.
Or you have yor brother appoint someone to oversee the recount, invalidate THOUSANDS of legitimate ballots cast in opposition to you, and have your ‘Brooks Brother mafia’ storm the recount station when you have just enough votes to swing the decision…
******************
galen–
None of that has ever happened to me. Has it ever happened to you or anyone in your personal acquaintance? Just curious.
Galen, ROFL…… Good one — thanks for the comic relief
I GIVE UP ON YOU FUCKING PSEUDO-INTELLECTUALS!
I’M VOTING FOR HILLARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Prediction: Hillary will win the nomination and be elected President. I’ll vote for her because the Republican alternative is worse. And that alternative is so much better than what we have now, which is a brain dead chimp (my apologies to our primate cousins) puppet with Dick Cheney’s hand up it’s ass.
Poet: Fortunatly not. Yet. I do live in Stephen (Bush’s Mini-me) Harper’s Canada, so the Diebold e-voting machines are probably on thier way for the next Federal election.
But the abuses I rcounted DID happen to thousands of minority voters in Florida and Ohio in 2000 and 2004. And are well documented.
Celebrity: Go ahead. Vote for Hillary. IF, and I do mean IF, she gets in, she will finish the job on Iran that Bush is starting. I hope you hand-bag sized pooch tastes good…
Mijari: Who do you think has their hand up Hillary’s backside? A tool of evil is a tool of evil, whether it’s dressed in a suit or a skirt. Please research Hillary’s voting record. She SUPPORTED every single piece of legislation that led up to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and has supported the Kyl-Liebermann ammendment that will allow Bushco to start another war, this time against Iran.
Her support has allowed the Blackwater butchers to kill with impunity in the streets of Iraq. The blood of innocent women and children is on Hillary’s hands too. And any consequenses of a military strike against Iran can be laid squarely at her feet. Those consequences will include an oil crisis that will make us look back on the long gas lines of the ’70s with nostalgia. That is, if gas is even available. Or heating oil. Or Plastic. Or most pharmacuticals…
VICHYCRATS FOR FEMBUSH, or IF THE PRESIDENT DOES IT, IT’S NOT ILLEGAL PART III.
Mr. Doyle states “Although she now favours a withdrawal of US troops…” Actually she does not really favor withdrawal nor would she even commit to have the troops out of Iraq by 2013! She is as dangerous as the Republicans and needs to be stopped now!
I wish i didn’t know now what i should have known then.
As a long-time environmentalist and peace and social justice advocate, I will not vote for a more-of-the same Hillary Clinton. I urge others to take the pledge.
We will be in this ****war until the end of time or the money runs out, which ever comes first. With Hillary and Bill in the White House it will be a ME-First administration and US-LAST population. You want a better life for your children and grandchildren, find another candidate than Hillary. They have way too much baggage and are picking up another load on the way to the White House.
Is all this haggling getting us anywhere? There seems to be a consensus that Hillary is not a “good” choice for the nation’s top job, nor that any Repub could do any better, but who is viable as a LEADER to bring us back from the edge of the precipice? To me, it seems as though Dennis Kucinich is the only Democrat who makes much sense with regard to foreign policy and extraction from the war(s) and out from under the control of the MIC and Wall Street - - but can he really have the clout to bring the lap-dog Dems along with him? Lacking that ability, the only real alternative left is to come up with a complete national ticket that would have solid, progrewssive candidates for every Congressional representative seat as well as each of the 34 or so Senate seats that will be up for election or re-election. Who and where are the leaders that can whip up enough support to pull this monstrous task off? The prospects for our future (or our kids and grandkids futures) are mighty bleak otherwise! Where is the “faithful remnant” that has been promised? (no editing needed)
well the thing is i really want my children to experience a pres who is neither clinton nor bush. actually i would kinda like that myself. then too i’m as good a feminist as you are but it’s really stretching the definition of feminine to include hillary. next thing you’ll be inviting margaret thatcher and madeline albright into the women’s room ya know? you really gotta drw the line somewhere.
the parade of possible presidents we are loking at is really pathetic. i agree with the poster back there- sorry i forgot your name- who said Kucinich. i think we must insist upon this guy he is so like us. so hip, so cool.
George: Option C - Break up the Union, dismantle the US military death machine, arrest, try, convict all politicians even remotely connected to the wars of aggression in Afhganistan and Iraq, institute massive reparations to all nations for damages caused by global warming, pay massive reparations to Afghanistan and Iraq…
Hey, if I’m going to dream, I’m gonna dream BIG!
Galen–so a Canadian you are! I caught the Conservatives speech from the throne this week on CBC.CA and I wonder what you thought of it. To me it sounded like Bush lite.
More interesting though was the commentary from the Liberal, NDP, Party Quebecois, and Tory representatives. Canada has a lot more diversity of opinion than the US no?
(I am a Floridian who lived for a year plus in Canada while stationed there in the U.S. Air Force. Never thought I would see the looney on a par with the US dollar did you?)
WELL CELEBRITY, IF THAT SELL-OUT WHORE HILLARY GETS IN THE WHITE HOUSE, YOU BETTER BUILD A BOMB SHELTER. THAT WAR-MONGERING BITCH WILL HAVE US IN WORLD WAR III. BUT THAT’LL BE OKAY WITH YOU, SINCE ALL THE WAR INDUSTRIES THAT SHE’S SUPPORTING WILL GET BIG CONTRACTS TO BUILD THEM.
Poet: Stephen Harper is known here as Bush’s Mini-me. And he was trying to provoke a non-confidence vote to trigger an election.
We do have a diversity of opinion for political parties (thank the gods!). I vote Green party, but have a NDP for my member of parliament, so I’m good on that end. The Conservatives would like nothing better than for Canada to be consumed by the US in one fell swoop, The PQ wants to separate (but take all the goodies with them), and the Liberals work for the corporations.
But I have to say that while we may have our gripes with the way things are run, we don’t have a whack job wanting to start wars all over the globe in control.
(As for the Loonie being above par with the greenback, I always hoped it would happen, and now that it has, I’m grinnin’ like a fool. Not that it’s a sign that our economy is doing so well, but that the US economy is headed for the crapper. Looks like Wiemar Germany economics for you very soon…)
well why would those companies give money to a losing cause?
So it’s war profiteers for Hillary
Yes, I voted for Gore and Kerry, but where did that get me? Both of them caved in to “forces of reason” beyond our comprehension - probably because the inside joke was on us, and we were simply excluded from the back-room debate.
Thankfully, I vote in an open primary state (Texas), so I can vote for Ron Paul, an anti-war republican, this time.
All the top-tier candidates from both sides are members of CFR or are involved in some way with financial elites ponying-up for their campaign tabs, so what difference will one of them make, pray tell?
What? You don’t care about paying an illegal income tax year after year? Or allowing a cartel of internationalists control the value of your money?
Have all of you resigned yourselves to excluding a republican patriot who just happens to be a Republican Party candidate… for real change?
Paul is that “whack-job doctor” who actually speaks to what’s ailing us. The one who actually knows something about economics and human nature. The one I want to see in the White House when the dollar collapses…
… Because it will.
How refreshing for us that we can have a serious candidate who HONESTLY speaks truth to power!
If anybody else gets in… I’m afraid we’ll lose our Constitutional Republic forever… and our long-lost individual liberties too… since the so-called anointed ones… are bought-and-paid-for by our friends, the corporatists (”fascisti”) and their globalist puppet masters (one-world totalitarians who brought us GATT, IRS, FED, UN, WTO, CAFTA, NAFTA, NAU, and the like).
Dr. Paul cured my apathy; and he can cure yours too!
The vast dissapointment that has become the Democratic Party is joining the vast dissapointment that the media has become. Every day major media reporters are targeted by more local resistance groups because they realize that only the corporate side of any story will be told. Major media may as well be the propoganda arm of Halliburton and the war party.
The Democratic Party “leadership” has joined the GOP in handing George W. Bush a blank check that allows him to wage genocide on the Iraqi people. In 2001 there were not 2 million Iraqi refugees fleeing this war. The war can only continue with the Democrats in congress passing the bills that fund it. Hillary votes yes for every war-funding bill that crosses her desk. Obviously her corporate masters approve.
The media simply ignores presidential candidates that have an agenda that is in any way different than the corporate agenda. If a candidate doesn’t support the war and the coal companies they get zero air time. Since the average US voter is a functional illiterate thier only exposure to candidates in on TV. If they’re not on the tube they don’t exist and the anti-war candidates aren’t on the tube.
Democracy is dead in America.
oh dear! oh dear! well well, well well
them old damned democrats is surely going to hell
yes sir
oh dear, oh dear, oh oh oh well, oh well
wonder if she’s got any more planks to sell…
And here all along I thought Giuliani was the bigger nightmare of the two. I believe the danger of Giuliani is the danger of a police state, whereas Clinton . . . a nicer police state, perhaps?
The previous elections were between terrible, awful people. But each election things get worse–exponentially. A vote for Clinton is not the same as a vote for Kerry, it is much, much worse. The war in Iraq, in Afghanistan, the insurgency in Pakistan, the Israeli colonial designs on Palestinians and Hezbollah and Syria, the credit crunch, the housing crash, the dollar’s weakening, PEAK OIL, all of this combined with an assault on Iran would mean one thing: an apocalyptic war as the predecessor to the collapse of industrial civilization.
So we can go down as a civilization with the Democrats at the helm, or the Republicans.
I think we should forget them, and begin organizing organic communities which will have the skills, capacity, and resources to sustain the best of our civilization as the horsemen of the apocalypse–peak oil, “disaster capitalim,” and global warming–make their rounds. Organize, get some nice technology, learn some skills, and move North (or far South).
Of course this is all in jest . . .
Jws4b: Already ahead of you on the whole ‘bug out bag’ thing…
Apart from which, it’s sad to see one of the few remaining slightly ‘independent’ media in the UK shamelessly buying into the ‘demonize Iran’ campaign:
” … This week, she said that, if elected president, she would not rule out military strikes to destroy Tehran’s nuclear weapons facilities. …”
What/where are these ‘facilities’? The IAEA has found no evidence of any after extensive inspections.
“Old heads as well as young may sometimes be charged with ignorance and presumption. The natural course of the human mind is certainly from credulity to skepticism.” –Thomas Jefferson to Caspar Wistar, 1807.
There’s lots of grassroots work to be done. Get involved in your local — very local — election process. Know all the players. Know all the issues. Stay aware. Build community…
…and get out from behind your computer. The Internet, despite it being a great tool to inform, is the largest impediment to building community — real community, local community. Activism requires people willing to work together, with people, on a one-to-one basis. Message boards are a distraction to the real work that needs to be done.
The only chance to win is through grassroots involvement. For ideas, consider www.duhc.org or similar organizations. Start, or become involved with, a true community-planning and working blog. “We the People” can only survive with the help of each other, working in community-based collaboration to build a sound foundation. It will not happen at the federal level. You know it, and I know it.
Now, stop debating the definition of “whore”, the unfairness of it all, and get busy. There’s too much work to be done.
Peace and good luck to all…
I hope Nader runs so I can cast a protest vote against Hillary like a crack whore with aids in heat.
For 8 years the peace movement, middle class as the lower class will take hits. In a way, Bush with a skirt. Livin in amerika-yuk–
Canada looks better every day!!
It’s disgusting but hardly surprising . She’s a calculating, cold manipulator . A Hen-Hawk . Stand up for Kucinich .
These are only the “…employees of the… arms manufacturers…” but NOT the arms manufacturers themselves. That is virtually aunion vote in her favor and the same witht he Wall Street “bankers”. This is being misconstrued and misrepresented…… and thus entirely missing the point. These people, as employees, are dissatisfied and also want positive change.
If she wins the primary my prediction is that she’ll be not noticeably different to Juliani and with the current intellectual state of the country and factoring Diebold still not under control, I’m willing to bet Juliani will take it. I’ll bet there’ll be lots of mud slinging on both sides, but Juliani will skewer her.
The only thing that might come into factor is the Christian right might sit this one out following the barking of guys like Dobson who aren’t interested in any of the candidates.
As far as Kucinich goes, It appears that the informed liberals seem to choose him in droves. If you listen to progressive radio call ins, it always seems like a landslide for him, but the polls still put him dead last. If you want this, I’d spend every spare minute going door to door for him until the primaries if you really want to get behind him, cause up until now whatever has been done isn’t working.
Actually the only noticeable difference between her and Giuliani is that Rudy has a personality.
It takes a Village of weapons employees.
Umlaut @ 4:29am:
“Actually the only noticeable difference between her and Giuliani is that Rudy has a personality …”
…did you accidentally leave the word ‘DISORDER’ off the end of your sentence just then?
[I have this notion that it’s well nigh *impossible* to get elected to high office without a serious Personality Disorder.]
_________________________________________
**FOR SALE**
“One very ‘Foxed’ Clinton.
100% open to bribes from diabolical weapons manufacturers.
Answers to the name ‘Judas’ and accepts cash, checks, credit cards, or the blood of innocents, ~ it’s all the same to her.
“No morals, = no worries!”
“Interested? Then just phone $203483000 and ask for “The Worst Possible Solution” -upon which, you will be put through to Hilary Killington in non-person.
Give her your name, bank account details and coffin size, and we will take care of the rest.
~ Oh, and remember to kiss goodbye to a more sane and peaceful planet should any of these ghouls get into power.”
You know, their pandering rhetoric aside, Giuliani’s and Romney’s actual voting records are probably more liberal than Hillary’s.
Just imagine the going rate for prospective leaders of the “Free World ‘ is just around USD 50,000 to 100,000 . They certainly are selling themselves cheap.
To put this in context : this would be the going rate for the very bottom-of-the-rung ‘two bit’ politicians in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Those at the very top of the heap would not even look at anything less than a few million dollars.
When all of the dust settles and the majority of the candidates have shot themselves in the foot, or put their foot in their mouth a few times, Dennis K will still be standing there holding steadfast to his ideas and ideals which are pretty much what most of us are looking for. A coalition of Dennis supporters on this web site alone has to be pretty substantial. For a little guy he certainly stands above the rest and I believe he has the heart of a true stateman.
It is interesting that the media portray the candidates who are raising the most money as the candidates who are “in the lead.”
Doesn’t this just mean those candidates are taking more and bigger “bribes” from special interests?
And, something just doesn’t feel right about the Hillary Clinton candidacy. Call it a “gut instinct.”
Will the two major political parties and the American people have the intelligence to elect a good leader for president? Thoughts on this in the article …
“‘Dumbing down’ of Americans may not be working: More intelligence emerges”
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=29479
GALEN: I appreciate your passion.
PEACE CZAR: Keep up the symbolic satires on our culture’s bankrupt values. A picture (or other art form) speaks 1000 words. Good luck. Although I tend to be offended (as a feminist) by the word whore, I think you made a substantial case for its use in Hilary’s case.
PANGOLIN: You nailed it. The tragic state of present times, but when all turns to shit, that’s when creative synthesis, nature’s remedial agents step in and CHANGE (must) happen(s)!
Hi All,
I just needed to complain to you about the dismal and sadly predictable decline of the USA…hope you don’t mind
I mean, holy shit. Look at the losers who are leading the pack (of losers) for the next president of USA: Guliani for the republicans, and of course Clinton. How sad. Nothing ever really changes in the USA…except to go from bad to worse. Let’s take Guliani first. His claim to fame is how he “made NYC safe”. Yeah, right. Or in other words, how he made NYC–a city up until he was mayor used to be a great city for nightlife and culture, and turned it into a mini police state where police can fill an innocent black immigrant’s body with 20 rounds of ammo, and basically walk scott-free. Not to mention he’s more zionist than Bush, which is saying something–really bad. He loves Israel! Israel can do no wrong! Build more concrete walls! Bomb the Palestinians! Keep the ongoing genocide of Palestine going! This is this total asshole Guliani’s election platform. So, we go from Bush to even worse than Bush with asshole Guliani. Guliani is such a total fucking asshole he actually has a very good chance of winning the presidency against Clinton. If he can be MORE of a warmonger and police state asshole, he WILL win.
And Clinton? A republican in all but name. Wall Street’s “democrat”, is better described as a republicrat. She’s as eager as Bush to start a war in Iran, if not more so. She will, if elected (most likely) be a continuation of Bill Clinton’s anti-democratic policies. For example: the insane media consolidation laws which have allowed the Wall Street Journal to be now taken over and owned by Rupert Murdoch (Mr. Fox News), these media pro-monopoly laws were all started not by GW Bush, but by Bill Clinton. Get ready for the next chapter of Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton: the two anti-democratic royal families that rule the USA, and will for decades to come. Just more of the same crap, for another 8 years. Maybe Jeb Bush will be prez after 8 years of Hillary? Most likely. Or maybe Neil Bush will be prez after Clinton. More wars in the Middle East, a weaker and weaker dollar, a further decline of USA’s prestige globally, abortion outlawed by the Supreme Court, and a long term recession. America is a country in serious, rapid decline. It will be replaced by China, India, and the EU as the world’s leading countries. America, to put it bluntly, is a piece of shit.
The world is moving on without USA, which it sees as a ‘has-been’. America is becoming like other South and Central American countries: a “banana republic”, with a 5% elite who own and run everything (the Gateses, Murdochs, Bushes, etc) and a 95% mass of losers who work at Wal Mart, McDonalds, Sears, etc. Goodbye USA, and goodbye to the “American Dream” which has turned into a nightmare of joblessness, police state repression, and wars without end with a corporate media only adding to the pain, misery and confusion of everyday Americans. America is turning into shit, and there really is nothing anybody can do to stop it. As there are fewer and fewer decent jobs in USA, it will more and more become a police-war state. Liberals, progressives, and people who care will be jailed, harassed, and denied employment or other privileges. How awful it all is to watch from afar.
Can you imagine? Guliani vs Clinton. Like I said: nothing ever changes in USA. Oh, how I wish it wasn’t so!
Thanks for reading (if you made it this far!), Z.
I guess Hillary has promised the Military Industrial Complex the World War III they so desperately want.
What is a little genocide when profits are low?
All US politicians are corporate military whores. If they weren’t, they would never be on the ballot. The US is all about government of, by and for the elite. It’s that simple. The people have no say…never had, and never will. Democracy, city on the hill, equality….all bullshit, all illusion. Americans don’t learn in school that their system is inherently fascist. They learn the Orwellian opposite. Then they are taught to tow the fascist line, lest they be called anti-american or unpatriotic. God forbid they actually learn to think for themselves. Americans deserve their fascist political system because they refuse to stand up and fight for their rights.
The Democrats and the republicans are ONE PARTY.
Impeach them all!
Jonah
California
http://geocities.com/redstar774
Hillary is scum and anyone that votes for her because “she is electable” or “the lesser of evils” is an ass. If she is the best the Dims can foist on us than I’m either voting for an independent alternative or casting a blank ballot. Real evil is better than real evil in disguise.
Celebrity,
Awwhh! Wouldn’t you like to be a pepper too?
Perhaps the silver lining in this will be that the democrats actually hang themselves and the citizens are so completely disgusted that they will finally be willing to vote independent or green in sufficient numbers.
No surprise here. Hillary has been clear she envisions a continuing military presence in Iraq(permanent bases); she even repeated the exact same numbers Bush mentioned(non-coincidently these are exactly the number of troops the five super bases in Iraq are reported to be able to hold).
She is way to close to the entrenched DLC cabal.
Why is it the nonviolent peace activists like John Lennon and Martin Luther King Jr. are assassinated in this war-loving country? Hmmm….I guess I answered my own question.
“Actually the only noticeable difference between her and Giuliani is that Rudy has a personality …”
…did you accidentally leave the word ‘DISORDER’ off the end of your sentence just then?
Here’s my theory.
Joe Q Public still doesn’t vote on issues but on likeability. Kenedy was more charming more TV friendly than Nixon. Carter more than Ford, Reagan more than Carter, Bush Sr. more than Mondale, Clinton more than Bush SR. and Bush Jr more than Gore.
Given the choice of a Dem Hawk or a Rep Hawk the battle is going to who has the most sincere smile and charm. If you strip them down to that I think Guliani has a slight lead there. OK the wife calling bit looks fake, but so does Hilary’s laugh. In the end I think Joe Q public will find G the more charming which is a sad reality but one we’re heading for if nothing changes.
Yes, you and I know different but you and I don’t represent the majority of the electorate.
I, too, as a feminist, am not happy with much of what Hillary says and how she votes. I stand far further left than she does. However, I think it is important to get anyone other than one of the Republican clowns in the Oval Office. We dare not let that happen. It is important that US voters finally open the door to a woman.
After voting her in, I think she will listen to us much more closely than any of the Republicans. And she will want to keep us happy for her re-election. I believe she is on the progressive’s side, but she can’t get elected without involving the moderate, more conservative element of US society. Once in the door, we can press for change, and it can happen with her as President. Nothing, but nothing, will change for the better with a Republican in office. We must not let that happen. If you want to do something about the environment, do not let a Republican win. Stop talking about voting for the greens. We saw what happened the last time we did that. On women’s issues, Hillary is also solid, and that is very, very important to me and my daughter.
Vote for Hillary and then get involved. Get involved now with her campaign and provide input!
And please, don’t start talking about her laugh and other physical qualities. That is simply not the way a progressive talks.
Hillary is not solid on anything except getting power and money for herself. Her friends that want war pay for her campaign and then our young people get killed and our money wasted. If you want more of what you had with the Bushes and her husband just work for Hillary.
You have a choice you can vote for someone like me and if the third parties and other citizens that have a passion for justice would form a coalition, I could win. I think quite a few people know how the Government has treated many of our good citizens such as me and many would work and vote for me. If not me then people need to get behind Kucinich or another anti-war person. My website is: sheilaforpresident.com
Please stop Hillary and get someone who is not a greedy war monger.
sheilabilyeu@yahoo.com
NAFTA Shrugged!
Jesus vs. Ayn Rabinowitz
C’mon Guys, Quit Posturing, whining you can’t help yourself –you hate to go there but you will, dutifully vote for her. You must be Market fundamentalists–you endorse the guy who gave us NAFTA (which Bush Sr. tried & failed to get through congress), concentrated media (controlled now by the Friends of Bill who owe him, big! for crippling the formerly free press), obsessing in re WMDs –bombing/starving peoples for resisting Mc-Burger-King –you gotta love all this because these were the things institutionalized by Bill Clinton in the 90s, eagerly endorsed by the W and followed through by Hillary. Quit alibing you’re “social” liberals. You’re not liberal anything– The only thing distinguishes you from the f-a-r right mean, stingy, heartless bastards in the companion (not alternate) party is you bristle at the word “Jesus” and ridicule Christians. I’m no Christian but your mean Ayn Rabinowitz– author of “Atlas Shrugged” and the celebration of greed vs. Jesus’ philosophy and way of life — I mean, give! me! a! break!
In the parade of extinguished life forms inextricably connected to our own, we can ill afford this current Global-Shrug. Trashing the *living! gifts of creation for hyper-indulgence & frivilous consumption isn’t simply cruel & uncivilized its uniquely unforgivable. We’re stripping our own children! of a sustainable home on THEIR! Planet, Earth.
The egregious loss of the sacrosanct bound up with us, the tragic loss that foreshadows the end of Earth was the loss of our Respect For Life.
Galen -
I have no illusions as to Hillary’s true color. But at least she can string a few words together into a coherent sentence. That’s a low bar to qualify for the presidency, but much higher than the bar, on the ground, that Bush crawled over.
Really, I think our whole “democracy” is a sham. There is only one national political party, a coin that has two sides; Republican and Democratic. We are now living in a fascist land where corporate dollars rule and private citizens have no real freedoms, as given to us by the founding fathers.
As long as there’s only one national party, beholden to corporate interests, we will not have a true democracy.
“Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.” - Plato
Let’s get one thing straight. Bill Klanton was definitely a war monger, and he proved it when he did what he did with his anything but humanitarian intervention after he sabotaged Lord Owen (British diplomat at the time) and Cyrus Vance peace plan which could stopped or at least drastically cut down on the rape, pillage, and killing carried by all sides to that conflict. Also in Iraq ‘Good old Bill” presided over bombing of that country when it sought to assert its sovereignty over its own air space by using US air power against Iraq, and he presided over sanctions horror which killed at a half million Iraqis.