Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

20080602 The facts about the Clinton post presidency by Bill Clinton

20080602 The facts about the Clinton post presidency by Bill Clinton

The Facts About Clinton's Post-Presidency

June 02, 2008 By Bill Clinton in “Real Clear Politics”

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/06/the_facts_about_clintons_postp.html

“Real Clear Politics” is carrying President Bill Clinton’s response to Bubba Trouble by Todd S. Purdum for Vanity Fair.

Hmmm, it seems that the former president is annoyed…

TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Office of President Clinton
RE: Vanity Fair Article on President Clinton
DATE: June 1, 2008

A tawdry, anonymous quote-filled attack piece, published in this month's Vanity Fair magazine regarding former President Bill Clinton repeats many past attacks on him, ignores much prior positive coverage, includes numerous errors, and ultimately breaks no new ground. It is, in short, journalism of personal destruction at its worst.

Any balanced account of President Clinton's post-presidency - which other publications have referred to as one of "a great philanthropist;" the face of "the power of philanthropy" and "a major force in fighting the pandemic [HIV/AIDS]" - would recognize that the lion's share of his work is his multi-million dollar charitable foundation, which works in almost 50 countries around the world. [The Economist, 9/23/06; Fortune Magazine, 9/7/06; The Wall Street Journal, 1/14/04] Vanity Fair, however, has chosen to publish thousands of words on former President Clinton, but to devote only a single paragraph to his enormous charitable accomplishments.

The piece also takes gratuitous and baseless shots at President Clinton's longtime Counselor, Doug Band, a key architect of the post-presidency, in sections that are rife with mistakes and which, in particularly galling taste, go as far as to criticize Band's wife, who started, and is the CEO of a multi-million dollar global company. The article even criticizes his wedding. The critiques of Band are baseless, and President Clinton has credited Band with being the originator of CGI and has noted that "I couldn't have done half of what I have done in my post-presidency without him."

The author, Todd Purdum, acknowledges speaking to over 50 people (almost all of them anonymous Washington insiders) before contacting President Clinton's office about his piece. Though he researched the piece for several months, his first contact with President Clinton's office was several weeks before he closed the story. Most revealing is one simple fact: President Clinton has helped save the lives of more than 1,300,000 people in his post-presidency, and Vanity Fair couldn't find time to talk to even one of them for comment.

Below are facts and information for those who want to know the real story.

Information below:

I. The Real Facts about President Clinton's Post-presidency

II. Vanity Fair's Troubling Ethical History

III. Fact versus Fiction About this Piece

I. THE REAL FACTS ABOUT PRESIDENT CLINTON'S POST-PRESIDENCY

Ø In six years, the William J. Clinton Foundation has grown from a small staff with two offices in the U.S. into a leading global non-governmental organization, with over 800 staff and volunteers in 44 nations with the mission to strengthen the capacity of people throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence.

Ø The Clinton Foundation is made up of seven initiatives that address some of the most pressing global challenges, including HIV/AIDS, climate change, childhood obesity in the United States and economic development around the world.

Ø The Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) is focused on expanding access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment. Through the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative:

ü 1.4 million people - nearly half of all people on treatment - have access to HIV/AIDS treatment at reduced prices reflecting CHAI negotiations.

ü Over the last two years, prices for pediatric ARVs have been reduced by 89%. CHAI has achieved 7 breakthrough price reductions on ARVs and diagnostics in four years, often reducing their cost by 50%.

Ø The Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) is working with 40 of the world's largest cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a variety of programs, including building retrofits and improvements in transportation and waste management. Additionally, CCI's purchasing consortium for energy efficiency products is accessible by more than 1,300 cities.

Ø The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) provides an innovative, meaningful, and tangible platform to help the public and private sectors work together to devise and implement solutions to some of the world¹s most pressing challenges. CGI has inspired nearly 1,000 Commitments to Action to improve over 200 million lives in 100 countries.

Ø The Alliance for a Healthier Generation - a partnership between the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association - is working with over 2,000 schools nationwide to create healthier school environments. The Alliance has brokered agreements with 30 companies and trade associations in the beverage, food & dairy industries, resulting in a 41% decrease in calories in the products shipped to schools.

Why did Vanity Fair fail to include any of this information in its post-presidency piece? Much lies in the sources they elected to pursue.

Who did VF call for this piece?

* Dozens of Clinton "watchers," "former aides," and "senior aides" who refused to be identified.

Who didn't VF call?

* The more than 800 staffers and volunteers in 44 nations who work for the Clinton Foundation.

* The 200,000,000 people in 100 countries whose lives will be impacted by commitments made by Clinton Global Initiative members.

* The 700 students from around the world who have made a commitment to act when they gathered for the first annual Clinton Global Initiative University.

* The more than 1,300 members of the Clinton Global Initiative who are leaders in government, including 36 Heads of State and 15 Former Heads of State, business and non-governmental organizations who have made commitments to action.

* The 1.4 million people with HIV/AIDS around the world who are benefiting from the Clinton Foundation's successive price reduction.

* The more than 20 national governments that the Clinton Foundation's HIV/AIDS Initiative works with around the world.

* The 7 pharmaceutical companies that have completed agreements with the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative allowing 67 countries to buy AIDS medicine at drastically reduced prices.

* The more than 750,000 kids from more than 1,000 schools in 44 states who are part of the Healthy Schools Program, which the Clinton Foundation launched with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to combat childhood obesity.

* The 30 companies and trade associations that the Clinton Foundation and American Heart Association's Alliance for a Healthier Generation has brokered agreements with in the beverage, food and dairy industries, resulting in a 41% decrease in calories in the products shipped to schools.

* The 425,000 people in eastern Rwanda and the 584,000 people in Malawi who the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative are helping reach economic self-sustenance through improved agricultural productivity, access to clean water, and stronger health-care systems.

* The hundreds of thousands of people in the Gulf Region who have been the beneficiary of over $130 million in grants given by the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund.

* The hundreds of thousands of people in Asia who have benefited from the $12 million in grants from the Bush-Clinton Houston Tsunami Fund.

* The New York City small businesses who received more than 65,000 hours of pro-bono technical assistance to help them stay competitive in an increasingly competitive environment.

* And at least two Nobel Peace Prize winners who have praised the President's foundation:

* "The (Clinton) Foundation has already proven to be a unique vehicle for Bill Clinton to continue working on the issues he cared about most as president. I congratulate the former president on establishing the Clinton Foundation and on the excellent work he has already done through it." -Nelson Mandela

* And Wangari M. Maathai, MP

II. VANITY FAIR: A LONG HISTORY OF LIBEL AND A LOOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FACTS

This piece was written by Todd Purdum, who is married to Dee Dee Myers, former White House Press Secretary. Purdum's disclosure of this in the piece does not, as Vanity Fair apparently concluded, remove the obvious conflict of interest. It's a conflict that would likely not be contemplated at more reputable publications, especially considering that, as a result of this relationship, at least one source's anonymity was revealed to others.

It is, however, but an example of Vanity Fair's ethical challenges. Since 1992, media outlets have reported on the magazine's penchant for libel, which has led to numerous lawsuits. The suits came from a wide range of people including: a former chess prodigy, Julia Sarwer; Mohamed Fayed; and American bio-weapons specialist and outed-anonymous source, Steven Jay Hatfill. In 2004, one of the magazine's "premier" writers, Dominick Dunne, was accused of paying a woman to lie for his stories. And in late 2006, the conservative author David Frum took to the pages of Huffington Post to explain how, "[i]n short, Vanity Fair transformed a Washington debate over "how to correct course and win the war" to advance obsessions all their own." [Huffington Post, 11/4/06]

Furthermore, several new outlets including the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times reported in 2004 on Editor in Chief Graydon Carter's capitalization on his position at Vanity Fair to explore consulting and investment deals. Specifically, they examined connections between Carter's personal consulting deals with movie companies and Vanity Fair's coverage. It was revealed that Carter had received a $100,000 consultant fee for suggesting to Hollywood producer Brian Grazer that Sylvia Nasar's book, A Beautiful Mind (which had been excerpted in Vanity Fair), be adapted into a movie. [Columbia Journalism Review, Jan/Feb 2007]

Carter's actions were condemned by Ed Kosner, a former editor of Newsweek, New York and Esquire: "When you're running an important magazine, there's an ethical line you just can't cross.You don't do any business on the side with people you're covering. You don't pitch projects to people your magazine is covering. You don't accept gifts," said Kosner. "This is not a personal decision one makes as an editor. It's a journalistic code, something that's very well known." The New York Observer concluded, "What Mr. Carter did was unconscionable." [LA Times, 5/14/04; New York Observer, 5/24/04]

III. VANITY FAIR VS. THE FACTS

VF Claims: Based on the opinion of a single doctor, VF claims President Clinton had heart surgery that has led to him behaving erratically.

The Facts: Purdum, who is not an MD, quotes one doctor who has never examined President Clinton and who provides a hypothetical analysis (from at least several hundred miles away) to support this claim. This theory is false and is flatly rejected by President Clinton's doctors who say he is in excellent shape and point to his vigorous schedule as evidence of his exceptional recovery.

VF Claims: President Clinton had a negative impact on his wife's campaign.

The Facts: Independent observers continue to praise President Clinton's abilities on the stump: "I have always said that Bill Clinton is still par excellence among all of them [speakers on the stump]." [Michael Smerconish on MSNBC, 5/12/08]

In his role as spouse/surrogate, Bill Clinton is still the gold standard: "And a spouse who I think gives the best stump speech of any spouse I`ve seen, with the exception of Bill Clinton." [Mark Halperin on Charlie Rose, 5/6/08]

The New York Times has praised President Clinton's "command of language," "appreciation of the urgency" of the campaign, ability to boil down a subject to its essence resulting nodding heads, and "political skills and fighting style." [New York Times, 5/5/08]

Finally, the data shows that Sen. Clinton won by huge margins in several rural counties that her husband visited: 44 percentage points in Armstrong County, 44 points in Cambria County, 48 points in Carbon County and 50 points in Greene County. This compares with an edge of 26 points for Hillary among rural voters statewide. In Bucks County, a Philadelphia suburb that Mr. Clinton visited, Sen. Clinton won by 26 points, compared with only three points in suburban Philadelphia as a whole. [WSJ, 4/26/08]

VF Claims: "As disclosures about his dubious associations piled up.his wife's reluctance to release their income-tax returns created crippling and completely avoidable distractions for Hillary Clinton's own long-suffering ambition."

The Facts: The Clintons have made public thirty years of tax returns, a record matched by few people in public service. None of Hillary Clinton's presidential opponents have revealed anything close to this amount of personal financial information.

VF Says: There is ample evidence that his eight-year absence from a political workplace that has changed.

The Facts: To suggest that President Clinton has sat idly watching campaigns play out for the last eight years is irresponsible. In June 2006, under the headline: Clinton is the Life of the Democratic Party, the New York Times wrote: "In what promises to be his most intensive campaign since he left office, former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to appear at more than two dozen fund-raisers for Democrats around the country, hoping to collect at least $20 million for his party's drive to recapture Congress." [New York Times, 6/6/06]

VF Says: For one thing, she lent her campaign $11.4 million this year, and because the Clintons' finances are commingled.

The Facts: Bill and Hillary Clinton have been married for over thirty years, yet the article makes it seems as though there is something suspicious about a husband and wife who have a joint financial account. This is ridiculous, and only serves to promote the opaque financial arrangements that the McCain campaign has relied on to deny the public information about his wife's finances.

VF Says: Since 2001, Clinton has received more in almost every category-pension, staff salaries, supplies-than any of his colleagues in that smallest of clubs. Before Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford died, Clinton's telephone and rent expenses came close to exceeding the comparable expenses for all four then living former presidents combined.

The Facts: 1. President Clinton receives the same pension amount as the other former presidents.

2. The difference in cost for President Clinton's office is attributable to location. Real estate in New York City is more expensive than in other cities. The rent for President Clinton's office is comparable to that of Social Security Administration, a federal agency with an office in the same building.

3. The numbers referenced by VF are GSA allocations, not actual amounts spent. Funds are allocated in accordance with the Former's Presidents Act. Under the Act, GSA allocates funds based on previous years allocations and GSA's projections. For Fiscal years 2005, 2006 and 2007 the President's office did not spend the full amount allocated by GSA.

VF claims: Band showed poor judgment

The Facts: In fact he is the originator of CGI, which has raised over $30 billion and impacted over 200 million people globally; helped raise $100 million with President Bush to help tsunami victims in Asia in addition to $20 million for the families of 9-11 victims to go to college; helped lead president Clinton's effort to put more than half of the developing world's HIV patients on life saving treatment, and his efforts to develop programs that fight climate change with the world's 40 most prominent mayors, childhood obesity and promoting citizen service.

VF Claims: President Clinton's Counselor Doug Band was involved in a deal involving Ron Burkle and Raffaello Follieri.

The Facts: Band was not involved in and did not receive remuneration for this deal.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/06/the_facts_about_clintons_postp.html

20080602 The facts about the Clinton post presidency by Bill Clinton

Monday, June 02, 2008

20080531 The Business of Freelance Writing Carnival Edition 19 by “thursdaybram.com”

20080531 The Business of Freelance Writing Carnival Edition 19 by “thursdaybram.com”

The Business of Freelance Writing Carnival, Edition 19

May 31st, 2008

The 19th Edition of the Business of Freelance Writing Carnival is right here! Next week will be our 20th carnival — I can barely believe it! If you’d like to submit a post or two, you can do so at Blog Carnival.

[…]

Kevin Dayhoff presents 20080528 The Tentacle: Ham Nation by Kevin Dayhoff posted at Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack Division of Old Silent Movies.

[…]

Read the rest here: The Business of Freelance Writing Carnival, Edition 19

For anyone who makes a living as a freelance writer, this is a great web site and the posts in their The Business of Freelance Writing Carnival, Edition 19 are great reading and informative.

http://www.thursdaybram.com/

http://www.thursdaybram.com/2008/05/31/the-business-of-freelance-writing-carnival-edition-19

####

20080531 Carnival of Maryland 34 by Baltimore History Examiner by Mark Newgent


Carnival of Maryland 34 by Baltimore History Examiner by Mark Newgent


If you have not had a chance to check it out, the Carnival of Maryland XXXIV edition is up on the web. The 34th is hosted by Mark Newgent on the “Baltimore History Examiner.”


My view is that I always look upon the blog carnivals as a “magazine.” This edition does not disappoint. Mr. Newgent did a great job at putting it together. Please enjoy it here:


Carnival of Maryland XXXIV


Baltimore History Examiner by Mark Newgent


Mark Newgent is a writer and editor with a talent for breathing history into everyday happenings.


POSTED May 31, 10:43 PM


Welcome to the 34th installment of the Carnival of Maryland. It is my pleasure to host the carnival. For those not familiar with the carnival, every other Sunday one member of the Maryland Blogger Alliance (MBA) hosts the carnival, which features writing from blogs throughout Maryland.


Thanks for all the great submissions.


I urge MBA members to check out Examiner.com’s great roster of Examiners. I hope that hosting the carnival here at Examiner.com that MBA writers get more exposure.


For more information about the difference between bloggers and Examiners click here to listen to our wonderful Content Editor, Anne Henslee explain to the WCBM morning show what Examiners do.


Who knows maybe you could be an Examiner too!


Ok on with the Carnival!


Leading off I will stay with the Examiner/MBA “alliance” theme of the day. My friend Kevin Dayhoff from Westminster, profiles Townhall.com columnist Mary Katherine Ham, who will be the online editor for the Washington Examiner’s forthcoming website.


[…]


Thanks again for all the submissions, and remember to check out all the fine Examiners and for readers unfamiliar with the MBA here is the roster:


Pillage Idiot (Rockville)


Soccer Dad (Baltimore)


Maryland Conservatarian (Rockville)


The Baltimore Reporter (Baltimore)


monoblogue (Salisbury)


Crablaw (Reisterstown)


Kevin Dayhoff (Westminster)


Politics, Hon (Baltimore)


blogger1947 (Gwynn Oak)


Jousting for Justice (Owings Mills)


The Voltage Gate (Frostburg)


Howard County Md. Blog (Ellicott City)


The Hedgehog Report (Columbia)


C. Dowd's Blog (Lansdowne)


Oriole Post (Silver Spring)


Escape from Pianosa (Baltimore)


Maryland Politics Today (Laurel)


The Greenbelt (Laurel)


Leviathan Montgomery (Silver Spring)


Going to the Mat (Frederick)


Pines Above Snow (Columbia)


Creating a Jubilee County (Pr George's)


Talk Lab (Columbia)


Inside Charm City (White Marsh)


The Candid Truth (Pasadena)


PG Chic (Pr. George's)


Mike's Nether Land (Severna Park)


Tinkerty Tonk (Abingdon)


It's Our Wits That Make Us Men (expat)


abolitionofman.com (Baltimore)


Red Maryland (Boonsboro)


Capital Punishment (Annapolis)


The Spewker (Pikesville)


Baltimore History Examiner (Baltimore)


GOPinionPlus (Linover)


Annapolis Politics (Annapolis)


That's What I Think! (Columbia)


mad anthony (Nottingham)


Common Sense (Williamsport)


Maryland Chesapeake Blog (Annapolis)


PsychoPhil (expat)


Red Writes (Columbia)


Clark's Picks (Chestertown)


Randomonium (Reisterstown)


River Mud Blog (Baltimore)


Travel Musings (Annapolis)


On the Red Line (North Bethesda)


Quaintest Town In America (Chestertown)


The Shores of Delmarva (Pittsville)


What's New in Maryland (Baltimore)


*****


Blog Carnival 034 May 31, 2008 Baltimore History Examiner


http://www.examiner.com/x-234-Baltimore-History-Examiner~y2008m5d31-Carnival-of-Maryland-XXXIV


*****


Read the entire edition here: Carnival of Maryland XXXIV


Related:


Media Blogosphere Maryland Blogger Alliance Blog Carnival


Media Blogosphere Maryland Blogger Alliance


Blog Carnival 034 May 31, 2008 Baltimore History Examiner


Blog Carnival 034 submission 20080528 The Tentacle: Ham Nation by Kevin Dayhoff


Blog Carnival 023 submission: 20071226 “A Tribute to former Carroll County Delegate Richard C. Matthews”


Blog Carnival 023 December 30th, 2007 Inside Charm City


Blog Carnival 022 submission: “20071201 Operation Christmas Tree”


Blog Carnival 022 December 15th, 2007 Mike's Nether Land


Blog Carnival 021 submission: “20071128 Westminster Eagle: Kids and cops share a little holiday magic by Kevin Dayhoff”


Blog Carnival 021 December 2nd, 2007 Pillage Idiot


Blog Carnival 020 November 18th, 2007 Leviathan Montgomery


Blog Carnival 019 submission: 20071101 Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge


Blog Carnival 019 November 4th, 2007 The Greenbelt


Blog Carnival 018 October 21, 2007 Creating a Jubilee Co., Prince George’s Co., MD


Blog Carnival 017 submission: “2001003 Living and Loving in the Age of Asparagus”


Blog Carnival 017 October 7, 2007 Monoblogue


Blog Carnival 008 June 4, 2007 Talk Lab (Nathan Vogel)


Blog Carnival 007 May 20, 2007 Monoblogue


Blog Carnival 006 May 6, 2007 SoccerDad


Blog Carnival 005 April 23, 2007 Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack


Blog Carnival 004 April 8, 2007 Politics, Hon


Blog Carnival 003 March 25, 2007 The Greenbelt


Blog Carnival 002 submission: “20070307 A sordid saga of communists, reservoirs, congressman, and pumpkins”


Blog Carnival 002 Mar 11, 2007 Pillage Idiot


Blog Carnival 001 submission: “20070218 The Opera of the Maryland Witchcraft Trial of Ken Schisler”


Blog Carnival 001 Feb 26, 2007 Crablaw's Maryland Weekly


20080601 Bubba Trouble by Todd S. Purdum for Vanity Fair

Former president Bill Clinton campaigning in Richmond on behalf of his wife during the run-up to the 2008 Virginia primary, which Hillary Clinton would lose to Barack Obama. By Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images.

20080601 Bubba Trouble by Todd S. Purdum for Vanity Fair

Bubba Trouble by Todd S. Purdum for Vanity Fair

If you have not had a chance to read, “The Comeback Id,” - Bubba Trouble by Todd S. Purdum for Vanity Fair, you are missing a compelling walk on the wild side that reminds one of the fascination folks on the highway have for a bus accident with multiple injuries.

Someone much brighter than me once said that “Politics is high school drama taken to a new level.” This is more like a “B” movie about middle school.

It is cringe worthy, disconcerting, tawdry, salacious, and may have reset the bar for personal attacks on national figures. To be certain, I have never – ever been a fan of President William Jefferson Clinton or his wife, New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. I have read material I have written of them in the past and have been embarrassed that I chose to be so indelicate and disrespectful.

Having been the subject of several attack–hit-pieces by the Baltimore Sun in the past, I must admit – - at this - a weak moment – - I almost feel badly for the former president.

Then again, objectively speaking, there is quite a strong argument that President Clinton, (aided and abetted by liberal Democrats and the liberal mainstream media,) played a significant role in the “victimization” of the former president.

Not to be overlooked is the fact that Mr. Purdum is married to former Clinton Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers. What role that may have played in the writing of this expose is in the eye of an individual presidential observer.

Whether you are a sycophant Bill Clinton supporter or a deranged Bill Clinton hater – the piece is a must-read.

Please clear the room of younger children and the innocent before you pull it up. Having a can of Lysol available may also prove prudent.

****

The Comeback Id

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/07/clinton200807?printable=true&currentPage=all

Old friends and longtime aides are wringing their hands over Bill Clinton’s post–White House escapades, from the dubious (and secretive) business associations to the media blowups that have bruised his wife’s campaign, to the private-jetting around with a skirt-chasing, scandal-tinged posse. Some point to Clinton’s medical traumas; others blame sheer selfishness, and the absence of anyone who can say “no.” Exploring Clintonworld, the author asks if the former president will be consumed by his own worst self.

by Todd S. Purdum July 2008

It was a wedding straight out of Sex and the City: a rehearsal dinner looking out over the Eiffel Tower from the Trocadero, a garden ceremony and dancing reception in a grand château outside Paris, topped off by a private fireworks display. The groom was a thirtysomething American lawyer with friends in high places, the bride a dark-eyed designer with social sheen, and the guest list a mix of family and what Noël Coward once called Nescafé Society.

But the real cynosure of the occasion last August was the smiling, snowy-haired man who is the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral he attends, the 42nd president of the United States, Bill Clinton. He had come to the City of Light with the motley crew that constitutes some of the post-presidential rat pack to celebrate the marriage of Douglas Band, the man who for the last decade has been his personal aide, gatekeeper, enforcer, and—more recently—counselor in the multifarious business, philanthropic, and political dealings that keep Clinton restlessly circling the globe.

Also in attendance was Ron Burkle, the California supermarket billionaire and investor who is Clinton’s bachelor buddy, fund-raiser, and business partner. Burkle had come with an attractive blonde, described by a fellow guest as “not much older than 19, if she was that.”

Burkle’s usual means of transport is the custom-converted Boeing 757 that Clinton calls “Ron Air” and that Burkle’s own circle of young aides privately refer to as …

Read the rest here after you buckle your seat belt – there’s lots of heavy breathing ahead: The Comeback Id

Click here to read Todd S. Purdum’s blog and watch his “Capital Conversations” with Dee Dee Myers on VF Daily.

20080525 Los Angeles Times: Trouble brewing in N.Y. for Clinton


Los Angeles Times: Trouble brewing in N.Y. for Clinton


As rumors persist that Hillary Rodham Clinton may finally be ready to end the national nightmare that has become her bid for the Democrat nomination for the presidential election this fall, there are many who feel that 2008 may be the year of never-ending drama for Senator Clinton and her real troubles are really only beginning…


Trouble brewing in N.Y. for Clinton


From the Los Angeles Times


Black leaders say that if Hillary Rodham Clinton returns as senator, she'll need to heal racial wounds her campaign has inflicted.


By Peter Nicholas Los Angeles Times Staff Writer May 25, 2008


Even as she continues her longshot presidential bid, Hillary Rodham Clinton faces a political rift in New York, where black leaders say her standing has dropped due to racially charged comments by her and her husband during the campaign.


African American elected officials and clerics based in New York City say Clinton will need to defuse resentment over the campaign's racial overtones if she returns to New York as U.S. senator.


State Sen. Bill Perkins, who represents Harlem, said constituents recently phoned him because they wanted to demonstrate outside Bill Clinton's Harlem office against comments by the former president.


Michael Benjamin, a state assemblyman who represents parts of the Bronx, said his wife removed a photograph of Bill Clinton from her office wall -- an expression of the misgivings that some black New Yorkers feel.


[…]


"The Clintons have their die-hard fans who would never abandon them," said Eric Adams, a state senator who represents Brooklyn. "But there are those New Yorkers who feel there was a lot of insult, slight and disrespect toward an African American candidate, and it translated as a slight to the African American community."


[…]


As the campaign unfolded, both Clintons made comments that some black leaders deemed dismissive of Obama. There was Bill Clinton's suggestion that Obama's victory in South Carolina carried no more weight than Jesse Jackson's success there in the 1980s. Other sore points were Hillary Clinton's claim that she enjoys the support of "hard-working Americans, white Americans" and the credit she gave to President Lyndon Johnson -- rather than the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. -- on civil rights legislation.


"There has been a consistent pattern of comments made by both Sen. Clinton and President Clinton from January until this moment that are deeply troubling to the African American community," said Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, whose district is in Brooklyn. "That will require meaningful reconciliation and discussion when Sen. Clinton returns to New York."


[…]


African American leaders said she could repair frayed ties by visiting black churches, backing legislation that shows she is sensitive to conditions in black neighborhoods, and apologizing for comments she and her husband made that seemed to polarize voters and marginalize Obama.


"She has a problem," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, a New York-based civil rights activist. "If she doesn't aggressively deal with the problem -- rather than sit in denial -- it will haunt her at home in her Senate race."


Clinton's Senate term ends in January 2013.


Some Democrats have mentioned that she could run for governor of New York if she isn't nominated for president.


That prospect unnerves some black leaders. They said they didn't want to see her challenge Paterson, who plans to run in 2010. With Paterson in the job, some black leaders want a definitive statement from Clinton that she would not subject him to a primary challenge -- and say they haven't gotten it yet.


[…]


Read the entire article here: Trouble brewing in N.Y. for Clinton


20080531 The Business of Freelance Writing Carnival Edition 19 by “thursdaybram.com”

The Business of Freelance Writing Carnival, Edition 19


May 31st, 2008


The 19th Edition of the Business of Freelance Writing Carnival is right here! Next week will be our 20th carnival — I can barely believe it! If you’d like to submit a post or two, you can do so at Blog Carnival.


[…]


Kevin Dayhoff presents 20080528 The Tentacle: Ham Nation by Kevin Dayhoff posted at Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack Division of Old Silent Movies.

[…]

Read the rest here: The Business of Freelance Writing Carnival, Edition 19


For anyone who makes a living as a freelance writer, this is a great web site and the posts in their The Business of Freelance Writing Carnival, Edition 19 are great reading and informative.


http://www.thursdaybram.com/


http://www.thursdaybram.com/2008/05/31/the-business-of-freelance-writing-carnival-edition-19


####

20080531 The Government's Scapegoats by Robert Murphy

The Government's Scapegoats by Robert Murphy

Robert Murphy Saturday, May 31, 2008

With food and energy prices soaring, housing prices collapsing, and the economy sinking into what could be a deep recession, the government has been searching around for villains. The latest scapegoats are speculators, OPEC, and of course, the big bad oil companies. As usual, our government ignores its own role in our current economic mess. To add insult to injury, most of the politicians’ proposed “solutions” would only make things worse.

Whenever there are large moves in prices, people naturally become suspicious of the mysterious speculators. These shadowy figures lurk behind every financial market, and apparently have the power to move prices up or down at will, earning fat profits for themselves. (If this were true, why do the speculators only appear at certain times? Why not make guaranteed money constantly?) The politicians promise to crack down on this antisocial behavior, and let prices return to the levels set by supply and demand.

[…]

Finally we come to the easiest scapegoat, domestic oil companies. Politicians have been threatening to impose a windfall profits tax, and Maxine Waters infamously suggested outright nationalization at a recent hearing. As with speculators, the theory here is that oil companies can set whatever price they want, and the hapless motorist has no choice but to pony up at the pump. Only by taking away those excess profits can justice be restored, say our politicians and pundits.

[…]

Read the entire column here: The Government's Scapegoats by Robert Murphy

20080531 The Economy: A Reality Check by Michael Barone

The Economy: A Reality Check

Michael Barone Saturday, May 31, 2008

"It's the economy, stupid," James Carville famously said during the 1992 campaign, when a young Bill Clinton was running against the other President Bush. The same could be said during this presidential campaign. The headlines are full of economic bad news -- mortgage foreclosures, the collapse of an investment bank, higher gas and food prices and lower home prices. Voters routinely list the economy as their chief concern, and consumer confidence has sunk to low levels.

Yet at the same time, the economic numbers are not so bad. A recession is defined as two quarters of contraction. But we haven't had one yet. The gross domestic product has grown, albeit only by 0.6 percent, in the last two quarters. As my U.S. News colleague James Pethokoukis blogged after the most recent numbers came in, "Dude, where's my recession?"

By any historic standard, our economic numbers are good, though possibly headed in a negative direction. April's unemployment was 5 percent -- a figure that once upon a time was considered full employment. The Consumer Price Index was up 3.9 percent, largely due to price rises in energy and food. "Core inflation" was 2.3 percent. Productivity was up 2.2 percent.

Those are numbers that would have been taken as a sign of very good times when I was growing up. Then, we had recessions every four or five years and bad bouts of inflation in the 1940s, 1950s and 1970s, and unemployment sometimes surged to 10 percent nationally and to 15 percent in industrial states like Michigan. In contrast, we've had only two mild recessions since 1983, with a third now possible but not yet in view.

In those 25 years, we have had low-inflation economic growth more than 90 percent of the time -- something never before achieved in American history. Alan Greenspan titled his memoir "The Age of Turbulence, but the story he tells is one of the amazing resilience of the American economy. Hit by one shock after another -- a stock market crash in 1987, currency meltdowns in Mexico in 1994 and in Asia in 1997, the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management in 1998, and the Sept. 11 attacks and the Enron collapse in 2001 -- our economy has adapted and kept growing.

Read the entire column here: The Economy: A Reality Check

Sunday, June 01, 2008

20080530 Commentary on Global Warming by Mark Tapscott

Global Warming: Destined to be the new 'Bloody Shirt' in American politics

Tapscott's Copy Desk May 30, 2008

There were 16 presidential elections between 1868 and 1928 and Democrats won in only four of those contests, with only two candidates, Woodrow Wilson and Grover Cleveland. More often, whenever it looked like a Democrat might have a shot at the White House, Republicans would "wave the bloody shirt." End of election story.

Waving the bloody shirt was as easy as GOP party leaders and candidates simply reminding Northern Republican voters that it was the overwhelmingly Democratic South that seceded in 1861 and ignited the Civil War, the most cataclysmic event in the nation's history. For more than half a century, that fact was an unavoidable and impassable obstacle for virtually all Democrats who nurtured dreams of becoming the nation's commander-in-chief.

What does this relic of American political history have to do with contemporary politics and campaigns? Well, the phenomenon is about to be repeated in a sense. The Senate takes up debate when it returns from the Memorial Day recess on S. 2191, the Warner-Lieberman bill known as "America's Security Act."

All three remaining presidential candidates support Warner-Lieberman or variations of it and the proposal has generated widespread enthusiasm in the mainstream media and among environmental activists. The proposal would cap the nation's greenhouse gas emissions - mainly carbon dioxide, which allegedly cause global warming - from combustion of petroleum, coal and natural gas from all sources, then set up a complicated system of "credits" that companies would buy and sell.

[…]

Columnist Charles Krauthammer has a superb piece in today's edition of The Washington Post.

That is exactly the point. It's also why The Examiner published this editorial earlier this week on why environmentalism isn't about the environment, it's about power for the elite.

Read the entire post here: Global Warming: Destined to be the new 'Bloody Shirt' in American politics

20080530 Scientists concerned over staff cuts at Maryland Department of Agriculture by Benjamin Ford


Scientists concerned over staff cuts by Benjamin Ford


Hat Tip: Delusional Duck - Scientists concerned over staff cuts Saturday, May 31, 2008


Scientists concerned over staff cuts


Workforce trimmed at ag. labs


By C. BENJAMIN FORD Friday, May 30, 2008 Staff writer


A former Maryland Department of Agriculture microbiologist who retired after battling with supervisors over staffing says the workload on scientists at animal diagnostic labs has created a dangerous public health situation.


While the department’s animal health service staff has declined over the past four years, the number of necropsies performed on farm animals annually has grown nearly five times. The number of lab tests performed also has increased by 12,000 a year.


‘‘They have to literally do everything,” microbiologist John Abell said of the remaining staff. ‘‘You have to start a test, and while that is incubating, run to another room for another test. I objected to this for many years. It creates disruption and keeps people from focusing on their job, and makes errors all the more likely.”


The animal health service provides a diagnostic lab as well as field inspections at livestock shows and special sales.

State Veterinarian Guy Hohenhaus said the Agriculture Department is more efficient than it used to be.


‘‘Over the years budgets have been cut, affecting staff levels and operations,” Hohenhaus said in a written response to questions. ‘‘As a result, we are looking at ways to do business as efficiently as possible and to meet changing agricultural needs in increasingly tough budget times.”


The state has five animal health service labs — in College Park, Frederick, Salisbury, Centreville and Oakland — which is more than most states, Hohenhaus said.


The animal health program, including scientists and support staff, had 46 full-time positions in fiscal 2000 and is down to 39 now, said Robin Sabatini, chief of staff at the Maryland Department of Budget and Management.


Read the entire article here: Scientists concerned over staff cuts