Is Obama Who We Thought He Was?

I was never all that enthralled with Obama. He is a tremendous politician, certainly, charismatic, nice and kind which is different for a politician. But, he is just that a politician. How many backtracks have we had this week alone? He decided that we little peons couldn't handle the torture abuse photos though he pledged transparency and accountability. Some were released in Australia anyway. They are disgusting and yes, more anti-american sentiment could occur, but if we would actually account for the torture we committed then just maybe we might begin to end that justifiable emotion. No, our President wants to move on...he wants to "look forward." But, it ain't his constitution, it is ours. We own it not him and by allowing torturers to break the public sentiment we are slowly destroying that document.

Yesterday, we heard the Military Tribunals are back on. Liberal groups blasted the move and is most certainly a campaign promise broken. I thought we were a country of values that need to ensure our values in every aspect of our lives. Just not in the criminal justice system I guess. Torture, ok, due process not ok.

This morning I read Obama appoints a top polluting lawyer to enforce environmental laws. Did we not have this for the last eight years. Here it is from Think Progress:

President Barack Obama has nominated a lawyer for the nation’s largest toxic polluters to run the enforcement of the nation’s environmental laws. On Tuesday, Obama “announced his intent to nominate” Ignacia S. Moreno to be Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division in the Department of Justice. Moreno, general counsel for that department during the Clinton administration, is now the corporate environmental counsel for General Electric, “America’s #1 Superfund Polluter“:

No lobbyists? Oh, I guess he isn't a lobbyist just another scum bag who believes capitalism reigns supreme over our lands.

Do we really believe we will get a safe, affordable health care system from him? Is it any wonder we are propping up the same oligarchial banks that destroyed our economy with almost no accountability and no consequences...or is that the torture debate? I have a hard time deliniating the two now.

It took me a month to sour on President Clinton, the last Democrat in the Whitehouse. One more move by Obama like this and I am out...I may be out already...

Election Day in May?

It is election day today in Jersey City and many places around the state including my used to be hometown of Hoboken. Above is Steve Fulop, someone who doesn't seem like he is in it for the glory, but for real. He is the first independently elected official in Jersey City history. Yes, that is true, no other candidate elected to the city council or the Mayor's office has ever done it without party support. He did it four years ago. After flirting with running for Mayor this time around he is making a go at the council one more time. It makes it just as difficult this time around because they are gunning for him. He does, however have a big following in Jersey City, especially here in Ward E. Here is hoping he wins. Maybe even One Jersey City folks will make the run off instead of the same old dopes running things here. Here is props for Dan Levin as Mayor though he has a steep hill to climb.

Politics and Baseball Converge: What the Owners Won't Tell You

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The World's First Openly Gay Leader

Icelandic Social Affairs Minister Johanna Sigurðardottir would be the world's first openly gay leader if she becomes Prime Minister of Iceland, as is widely expected. Although Per-Kristian Foss served as acting Prime Minister in Norway very briefly in 2002, this represents the first time that a gay leader would assume the reins of a modern state.

The Prime Minister of Iceland (currently) is expected to step down due to health concerns and the economic crisis. Read the rest of the article here. It is written kind of as a jest to the American public. Icelanders do not even ask the question or would care writes Ms. Erlingsdottir and find it offensive Americans would. If we could ever live in such a climate...

President Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Americans take for granted the "peaceful transition of power" that is widely discussed in most inaugural addresses. It is true, the vast array of nations do not enjoy this transition and it is, on January 20th a startling sight to see, a marvel we should all be glad to witness and enjoy the fruits of such peace in at least, our homeland.

Especially, after living with these last eight years and the coup that occur ed in December of 2000. We did not take to the streets and cause violence. We chose to accept the decision of our Supreme Court, however illegitimate it might have been and the subsequent damage that has been done to our democracy since. Talk of impeachment, however should have been on the table, but again I digress because that is a different issue in some regards.

January 20th will be a sweet day for many and will usher in a new day for our nation with again a peaceful transition of power, a day the world waits for feverishly. It got me to thinking though, what are the greatest inaugural speeches? In modern day, of course it is Kennedy's which I posted earlier in the week, certainly a work of literature: Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace...

Roosevelt's first, "we have nothing to fear but fear itself" and certainly George Washington's first address that was more a historic moment because of what it meant. But, the greatest speech by a President at an inaugural address is widely considered Lincoln's Second Inaugural address. Actually it isn't even disputed anymore and the speech is considered to have a place next to the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address. He was our greatest President for many reasons that could and should be discussed, but in my opinion his skill as an orator, as a writer and as a person to convey what our nation means, not only in freedom and liberty, but in the tremendous contradictions and hypocrisy that endowed our nation. In his Second Inaugural Address he conveys all of this and is a man humbled by his mistakes and by his ability to have kept our nation in tact. Some say, he alone could have done that.

When I first read his speech I was going through personal crises and needed to come to terms with some painful realities and I read this speech and it helped because of its message of hope, humility and understanding. Lincoln conveyed to our nation our mistakes, but also our grandeur. This type of humility is unknown to politicians today (although Barack is a welcome change) and it is why he is considered our greatest gift to the world. It is such a marvelous document I wanted to share it with the SG. It is not only a work of literature, it is a work of art.

The London Spectator said of the speech at the time: "We cannot read it without a renewed conviction that it is the noblest political document known to history, and should have for the nation and the statesmen he left behind him something of a sacred and almost prophetic character."

It is also different in that it is tremendously short, much like the Gettysburg Address. Brevity is the key to wit could have been invented after Lincoln. He must have also been a marvelous lawyer to convey something so profound in so short an amount of words. Please read:

At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention, and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it--all sought to avert it. While the inaugeral [sic] address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war--seeking to dissole [sic] the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.

One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!" If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether"

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

The next Senator from Illinois will be Roland Burriss: Update

From our friend of the blog R. Thelonious

Caveat, my political prognostication batting average is somewhere in the send him down to the coal miner minor league.

But you can take this to the bank.

The next Senator from Illinois will be Roland Burriss.

The Democratic Caucus has stated emphatically and unanimously that Blagojevich should not appoint. Blago was undeterred; apparently, he did not see Harry Reid's rippling muscles -- they must not have been visible from behind the ear-to-ear grinning Joe Lieberman still beaming from coming out unscathed after an election season where he called President-Elect Obama a Marxist, terrorist-sympathizer and campaigned actively against sitting Democratic Senators.

The legal options available to prevent the Democrats from seating Burriss are tenuous; at best they are an opportunity for procedural delay and to stir up some bad blood for when Burriss eventually gets a seat. Although the latter effect likely will not actually come to pass. Have you noticed that not a single Congressperson has chastised Burriss for accepting the appointment? Back channels are now open.

This is where the rubber meets the road. Everyone has chimed in to say the Burriss is a good guy, but they just can't seat him because Blago is tainted. I ask you -- who voluntarily gets in bed with a tainted politician? Who (other than Lieberman) willingly participates in the process when the Senate Democrats have indicated their collective will?

The Democratic Senators will make lofty pronouncements about integrity of the process, but it is all smoke and mirrors. The Black Congressional Caucus is already circling the wagons. Rush has warned us not to "hang or lynch" Burriss and points out that there are no African-Americans in the Senate now.

At the end of the day, they will proclaim that either their hands are tied, or worse when the PR machine starts to do its damage, that it is the will of the people that Burriss be accepted, and we will all once again ask ourselves is there honor in politics. We will certainly know that politicians protect one another.

The only open question is will Caroline Kennedy succeed to the throne?

Update: The Senate has not agreed to seat Roland Burris as previously reported. It seems likely it is about to happen, however.

"Obamawitz"

one more day until the primary ... paul was interviewed on NPR's the brian lehrer show this morning. he handled the tough questions brilliantly ... listen here and rally for paul! go paul!


Nonviolence is an orphan among democratic ideas. It has nearly vanished from public discourse even though the most basic element of free government -the vote-has no other meaning. Every ballot is a piece of nonviolence, signifying hard won consent to raise politics above firepower and bloody conquest. -Taylor Branch-

Assembly Candidate Paul Newell is beginning to make waves in his longshot bid (an understatement) to unseat none other than the most powerful person in New York, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver of the infamous three men in a room. Now with Spitzer gone, he may be the most powerful of the three men. But, Newell is not deterred and the blogosphere as well as the progressive community in New York City is beginning to take notice.

An event is scheduled this Tuesday night - June 24th, 7 - 10 PM, a fundraiser that sends a message with every contribution.

You can donate $77 for how many days until Newell unseats Silver; or

$149 for the amount of Assemblyman that will get a voice other than Silver; or

$500 (which gets you on the finance committee by the way) which is the amount of signatures Paul needs to get on the ballot.

He even has the attention of Ben Smith of Politico with the creative 'Obamawitz' image. This whole scenario makes me proud because once progressives (nationally for Obama and Edwards for that matter) realize they have power we can do just about anything.

There are some downsides to taking on the powerful, however. Paul told me when he began this quest that it wouldn't be easy and he would probably face another challenger funded by Silver. In pops Luke Henry. As Newell's candidacy began to pick up steam Henry announced. Suddenly, he moved back to the 64th from the West Village to challenge Silver, suspiciously in September. Doubly suspicious to Newell was that Henry has also worked for Wilson Elser (the lobbyist giant where Kenneth Shapiro works), which reps several firms with ties to Silver and the Assembly, such as the Dolans (Henry says he didn’t do political work there). Newell is concerned that Henry might be a sort of spoiler, an unserious candidate designed to split the non-Silver vote.

Paul, on the other hand, has lived in Chinatown for ten years, he is an Obama delegate and has been working for non-profits, including Ubuntu, an organization dedicated to the AIDS crisis in South Africa. Newell also speaks fluent Spanish, an important caveat in his constituency in the 64th. It is time the progressive blogosphere got behind a progressive candidate in New York City. NYC should be run by progressives, not old school democrats who we cannot tell from moderate Republicans, who we would rather have a conversation with - say Bloomberg than Sheldon Silver. It is ridiculous. Come to the fundraiser.

My favorite endorsement that Paul has received, however is the following from the Cougars of America: We the Cougars of America would like to endorse Paul Newell for New York State Assembly. We think he's just what we need in our government, a good lookin' young, single, and bold (bald) progressive. Not only is he the Bialystock of the Bowery, Paul has the right kind of touch (caress) and nearsighted vision that will bring a wave of fresh idea to Albany. It is time for change.

Reform und Drang: Part I

A special piece to the Subversive Garden regarding the victories, defeats and eventual schism of the Hoboken Reform movement from the artful and insider view by Hobogomil. A brilliant piece on the politics of the reform movement and why in general progressive politics cannot slay the dragon of either the evil Republicans or the corrupt (wink, wink), democrats of Hudson County. Ever its own tempest in a teapot, the Hoboken Reform movement boiled over boisterously this past year, making serious noises and big splashes all over town. By May, however, it had finally sizzled itself down to its last few wisps of hot air on the small but scalding surface of Hoboken politics. Perhaps feeling it had found a home on that range, it got - perhaps - overconfident after extending its reach into the wild west part of town with the 4th Ward successes. But it wasn't all flash and no substance - what strange brew left such a mess? And - hey, now - is that remaining hot air instead actually enough to raise a balloon to race around the world??

Whah hahppend??? Big, surprising victories over the Evil Machine in '07 school board, Democratic committee, and at least two city council races - capped with a 2-1 margin on a Machine-opposed open-space referendum - completely offset (and then some) an embarrassing Assembly-race thumping of erstwhile progressive icon, Carol Marsh, and heralded a Reform 'coming of age' in Hoboken. Pundits reeled, progressives cheered, and gob-smacked, gin-soaked Machine apparatchiki fell about the urine-drenched stoops of Washington Street like so many hopeless drunks. (Given the Hoboken likes of ex-State Senator Bernie Kenny, City Clerk Jimmy Farina and ex-City Business Administrator Dick England, there's actually no metaphor there.) The Machine trundled out all its cheapest tricks and heavily outspent Reform, but lost ground on almost all fronts anyway.

Okay, but -- whah hahppend??? 'Whah,whah,whah' happened. Wailing and whining about just desserts did them all dirty - first inside the Machine, then inside Reform. The County Democratic leadership, utterly convinced of its inalienable right to unmitigated feudal sovereignty, forgot entirely (and almost justifiably) about progressive dissent and opposition after a decade of beating it 90% to 10% in every race everywhere. Then little bosses got big ideas and civil war began to poke its hideous little face out from behind the relative calm and beauty of Union City white slavery and North Bergen thumb-breaking. "Why should these few old bosses (who made each of us) have all the spoils?" they bi-atched. Greed reared, complaints mounted, ranks broke, rancor followed - filtering down apace to the Machine lieutenants in Hoboken, aka New Pork City. Reform, ever staring glumly at the Machine's Great Wall, the political palisade always in front of them, quickly noted the opportunity in a crumbling Fortress Hudson and charged like newborn sea tortoises into the breach, snapping up minority representation for themselves all over town. Everywhere you looked, Reform was taking 40% of wards, district by district, most by a 51%/49% margin. Fiscal control and middle-class domination bobbed deliciously ahead in the next wave of '08 races.

Ah, but schism happens. Now, whereas the Hudson/Hoboken machine's ambition is dollar-denominated, the Hoboken reformer's ambition is ego-denominated and you can bet it didn't take more than a New York nanosecond for their morally-gifted, upper-middle-class selves to dive into an ethical pissing contest over who was most fitting as the next Yertle-on-Hudson. Some assumed it should be the one who had the most disposable income available for a political hobby. Green reared, complacency mounted...

Oh, come on -- whah really hahpennd??? In 2001, on the heels of state-of-the-art corruption under then-Mayor (and recent ex-con) Anthony Russo, current Mayor Dave Roberts - in a leap of political genius not seen anywhere since... late yesterday - lied unabashedly in claiming he'd end the regnant corruption and swept to victory over Russo with a council slate of three 'dyed-in-the-wool reformers'. Russo's machine methodology and gold-lust were so blatant Gollum and three syphilitic orcs could have beat him on character and charm alone. Somehow, though, the nascent Reform leadership of Marsh, Mike Lenz, Beth Mason and Tony Soares mistook this windfall changing of the terminally-corrupt guard as proof positive of personal political gifts - as some benediction of charmingly earnest grass-roots chaos turning coffee-klatsch into beer-hall putsch.

In actuality, Russo lieutenants jumped ship and exported Machine strategy and tactics to Roberts' covering brand, and then excised the honest if naive reform-minded progressives from the hustings. The new regime was not installed by Reform purity and spiritual eclat, but by old, thoroughly-organized cheats with a new, thoroughly-sterilized front. All ensuing (and myriad) election defeats for the dispossessed reformers were rationalized as due merely to a) lack of sufficient funding or b) vicious tandeming of assiduous back-stabbing by Roberts and a well-tapped parochiality of the born-n-raised polity. This, to be sure, would explain why slim victory might morph into narrow defeat above a citizenry supposedly hungry for Reform's college-bred, upper-middle-class sociopolitical decency- but not why they would lose election after election, by 20-30% or more. Reform leadership's surfing to initial victory on a zeitgeist of anti-corruption sentiment deftly managed by Machine retreads rather than their own organizing skills left them blind. And prone to castrating rationalizations about Reform's own vigor, charisma, skills and vision. Of course, Reform leadership proceeded to in-fight over just whose mayor-elect ego was owed coronation – rather than engage in any honest self-scrutiny.

Reform und Drang: Part II

Split happens. Mason and some arch-lieutenants (and we do mean 'arch') then splinter off in early '07 to form the revolutionary, new and improved, well-polished and all-around expialadocious Vote Hoboken political committee. [Oh, yes, folks we were there for it, the hot-air balloon having crashed right in our backyard on its way back to Kansas.] The Marsh/Lenz faction remained largely at the helm of Reform, but not by dint of any real leadership: it was squarely due to inertia - residual name-recognition, the defining voter-base apathy, and Vote Hoboken's utter inability to draw off much of a following at all. The ensuing bickering, posturing, and indignant outrage would fill a tetralogy of the cheapest of dime novels, (which - if you count hoboken 411, NJ.com's Hoboken forum, Hoboken Now and the Hoboken Reporter's Political column - it pretty much did). Suffice it to say, this dog had fleas, couldn't hunt, was all bark no bite and the incessant and feckless tail-chasing thoroughly eroded any burgeoning ascendancy Reform was evolving into. Early '07 victories intimating a potent Reform-oriented demographic turn and awakening amidst a (thereby-apocalyptic) Machine civil war were brutally reversed within a year as both County and municipal machines closed ranks, partly in response to Reform’s newfound bite.

The Last Days of Chez Fous The real, inbred craziness in the royal House of Reform was not simply the rift itself, but the protracted denial and toleration of its self-destructiveness as epitomized by the testosteronic rantings of the movement's tanists, Lenz, Jim Vance, Lane Bajardi and Tony Soares. High Priestesses Marsh and Mason stepped to the background somewhat as the feud revved up but kept the bitterness of the rivalry quite alive through the feistiness of the aforementioned publicists-cum-pugilists, who availed themselves of every forum and every opportunity to bash each other into tertiary relevance within Hoboken politics (behind the rival halves of the Machine presence).

This spawned confusion and demoralization among the core Reform polity just as the Reform gains of '07 begged for consolidation in advance of an inevitable and telegraphed Machine regrouping. By the time of this past April's school board elections, Reform was so childishly self-divided that the emblematic Kids First landslide the prior year got thoroughly reversed, spanked crudely by the most acrid dregs of Old Hoboken cronyism. This was quickly washed down with the lye of a Reform freeholder candidate's massacre several weeks later, all the more caustically as she came in third behind a divided Machine vote. The feud also spawned another pair of twins – hopefully to be separated at birth, permanently and with extreme, post-apocalyptic prejudice.

On the one (more dextrous if six-fingered) hand, a Neo-Reform leadership has emerged, questing for self-direction in the aftermath of the elder Reform leadership's abdications. Dawn Zimmer, Peter Cunningham and Theresa Minutillo retain clear leanings toward The Marsh/Lenz camp due to its greater proximity to the bulk of Reform vote and its more potent operational actors. But they have each also established an individualized independence, focused largely on the relevant school-board or city council portfolio. This lends focus to their efforts and coherence to their public profile even as it sacrifices the scope of leadership they can project. But that's okay – they limn a solid leadership profile for the necessary retooling of Hoboken Reform.

On the other (more sinister and sticky-fingered) hand, the internecinematics of the Reform movie have also allowed infancy to a pseudo-Reform counterinsurgency, a shallow co-optation led by the indelible smarm of otherwise eclipsed politicos, Peter Cammarano and Maurice Fitzgibbons. If responded to artlessly or even embraced as a lesser of evils, this new pseudointellectual goo could suck Reform/Neo-Reform down to a permanent bottom at the chill and murky depths of the Hudson political scene . Fortunately, these two soulless hacks most closely resemble those grotesquely feckless-but-fierce-looking micromonsters one sees out the bathysphere window, whose huge ugly maws have almost no impact on anything except even smaller more grotesque creatures. But those could be Reformers if the leadership doesn’t watch out.

Ah, but what is so rare as a day in June?? Despite all this, Reform hopes sprout feathers in the week following the June primaries. On a single day, complete fiscal meltdown of the city due to gross and obvious Old Guard incompetence and control of the municipal Democratic Party committee fall beneficently into Reform’s lap. Stay tuned – the ramifications of this are playing out frenetically as you read. More soon.

Happy Mother's Day (to some anyway)

Topping the list as the best place to be a mother is Sweden with the rest of the Scandinavian countries not far behind (ahhh life in a Social Democratic Country). The Countries from sub-saharan Africa dominate the lower tier. The United States ranks 27th. When my friend, a Portland mother to be (for the second time) sent these statistics to me it took a while to absorb them. They are shocking on two levels, that the division between the top and the bottom is so severe and secondly, that the United States fares so poorly. Below are some excerpts from the report and the website.

The gap in availability of maternal and child health services is especially striking when comparing Sweden, at the top of the list, and Niger, at the bottom. Skilled health personnel are present at virtually every birth in Sweden, while only 33 percent of births are attended in Niger. A typical Swedish woman has almost 17 years of formal education and will live to be 83. Meanwhile, 72 percent of Swedish women use some modern method of contraception, and only 1 in 185 will lose a child before his or her fifth birthday. In stark contrast, in Niger, a typical woman has less than three years of education and the life expectancy of a girl born today is only 45. Only 4 percent of Nigerian women use modern contraception, and 1 child in 4 never sees a fifth birthday. At this rate, every mother is likely to suffer the loss of a child during her lifetime.

Zeroing in on the children's well-being portion of the Mothers' Index, Italy finishes first and Niger finishes last out of 168 countries. While nearly every Italian child ─ girl and boy alike ─ enjoys good health and education, children in Niger face a 1 in 4 risk of dying before age 5. In Niger, 44 percent of children are malnourished, and less than half of children are enrolled in primary school.

Country Comparisons:

The Mothers' Index presents individual country comparisons for poor countries that are especially startling when one considers the human suffering behind the statistics:

• 1 child in 4 does not reach his or her fifth birthday in Afghanistan, Angola, Niger and Sierra Leone. In Sweden, only 1 child in 333 dies before age 5.


• Fewer than 15 percent of births are attended by skilled health personnel in Afghanistan and Chad; 96 percent of births are attended by skilled health personnel in Sri Lanka.
  Over the course of her lifetime, 1 woman in 8 will die in pregnancy or childbirth in Afghanistan. Compare that to 1 in more than 47,000 in Ireland.


• A typical woman in Angola, Dijbouti and Niger has less than four years of schooling versus a typical woman in Australia or New Zealand who receives over 20 years of formal education.
  
• A girl born in Swaziland will not live to see her 30th birthday. Compare that to a girl born in Japan who will live to 86 years old.
  

Why doesn’t the United States do better in the rankings? The United States ranked 27th this year based on several factors:

● One of the key indicators used to calculate well-being for mothers is lifetime risk of maternal mortality. The United States’ rate for maternal mortality is 1 in 4,800 - one of the highest in the developed world. Thirty-five out of 43 countries performed better than the United States on this indicator, including nearly all the Western, Northern and Southern European countries and Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Hungary, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine.

● Similarly, the United States did not do as well as many other countries with regard to under-5 mortality. The U.S. under-5 mortality rate is 8 per 1,000 births - up from 7 in last year’s Index. Twenty-nine countries performed better than the U.S. on this indicator.

● Only 61 percent of children in the United States are enrolled in preschool - making it the ninth lowest country in the developed world on this indicator.

● Next to Australia, the United States has the least generous maternity leave policies of any wealthy nation.

● The United States is also lagging behind with regard to the political status of women. Only 17 percent of seats in the U.S.Congress are held by women, compared to 47 percent in Sweden and 42 percent in Finland. Why is Sweden number one? Sweden performed as well as or better than other countries in the rankings on all the indicators. It has the highest ratio of female-to male earned income, the highest percentage of women with seats in the national government and - along with Iceland - the lowest under-5 mortality rate in the world.

Obama Ready to Close this thing Out?

The polls are all done. Real Clear politics has Clinton by five in Indiana and Obama by eight in North Carolina. These are good averages, but do not always tell the whole story. Still, I think they are right. I say Obama wins North Carolina 55-45 and Clinton wins Indiana by a smaller margin at 53-47. I also think if this result holds up then Superdelegates (as they did yesterday) will begin flocking to Obama. She is only 15 ahead right now.

We shall see tonight.

Bob Herbert of the New York Times

"Most of the electorate understands that the U.S. is in sorry shape, which is why more than 80 percent of poll respondents say we’re on the wrong track. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright has nothing to do with any of that. The idea that his nonsense may shape the outcome of this election is both tragic and absurd."

By BOB HERBERT
Published: May 3, 2008

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright is no doubt (and regrettably) a big issue in the presidential campaign. But what we’ve seen over the past week is major media overkill — Jeremiah Wright all day and all night. It’s like watching the clips of a car wreck again and again.

We’ve plotted the trend lines of his relationship with Barack Obama over the past two decades. What did Obama know and when did he know it? We’ve forced Barack and Michelle Obama, two decent, hard-working, law-abiding, family-oriented Americans, to sit for humiliating television interviews, reminiscent of Bill and Hillary Clinton on “60 Minutes” at the height of the Gennifer Flowers scandal.

We’ve allowed the entire political process in what is perhaps the most important election in the U.S. since World War II to become thoroughly warped by the histrionics of a loony preacher from the South Side of Chicago.

There’s something wrong with us.

Race is like pornography in the United States — the dirty stories and dirty pictures that everyone professes to hate but no one can resist. But I suspect that even porn addicts get their fill sometimes.

The challenge for the working press right now is to see if we can force ourselves past the overwhelming temptations of Wright and race and focus in a sustained way on some other important matters, like the cratering economy, metastasizing energy costs, the dismal state of public education, the nation’s crumbling infrastructure or the damage being done to the American soul by the endless war in Iraq.

A highly decorated Army ranger named David McDowell, a 30-year-old father of two from Ramona, Calif., was killed in Afghanistan this week. As I read his obituary, I noticed that he had been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq seven times. What does that tell us about our shared wartime sacrifices?

I’d like to hear a lot less about Reverend Wright and a lot more about why the U.S. can’t close the deal in Afghanistan and hardly even seems interested in extricating our G.I.’s from Iraq.
Among the many other important issues overshadowed by the good reverend is a legitimate dispute between the presidential candidates over a proposed gasoline tax holiday, to run through the summer. Hillary Clinton and John McCain favor this dopey, irresponsible proposal, which would save individual motorists a grand total of $28, but which would result in $9 billion in lost tax revenues, much of it targeted for infrastructure needs.

(Senator Clinton says she would recoup the losses with a windfall profits tax on oil companies. Don’t hold your breath.)

No one with a serious understanding of the nation’s energy needs supports this foolishness. Senators Clinton and McCain have been assailed by editorial writers on the left and the right for pandering. Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City was stinging in his criticism, calling the proposal “about the dumbest thing” he’d heard in a long time.

“Obama was right on this one, and McCain and Clinton were wrong,” said Mr. Bloomberg. “The last thing we need to do is to encourage people to drive more and to take away the monies we need for infrastructure in this country.”

The point here is that this was a tailor-made opening for the press to push the candidates hard on a phenomenally important question: What should we be doing in the short and long term about U.S. energy requirements?

Another issue: Economists were exhaling Friday because we only lost 20,000 jobs in April. After all, we lost 81,000 in March. Nevermind that we need to be creating millions of jobs if we’re ever going to get our economic house in order. With credit cards maxed out, real estate prices falling and enormous amounts of home equity already drained, a good job is the only legitimate way to put real money into the hands of cash-strapped families.

Americans are hurting on the jobs front. Those who are employed are working fewer hours and for less pay. Some sectors are crippled by unemployment. There are big-city neighborhoods in which the real jobless rate of young African-Americans is 80 percent or higher.
Do the candidates have concrete strategies for engaging these problems? Could we hear about them? Explore them? Critique them?

Are we in the news media going to be serious about this election, or is it really going to be all about Wright and race all the time?

Most of the electorate understands that the U.S. is in sorry shape, which is why more than 80 percent of poll respondents say we’re on the wrong track. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright has nothing to do with any of that. The idea that his nonsense may shape the outcome of this election is both tragic and absurd.

Challenger Newell Calls Sheldon Silver on his "Back Room" Dealings

I received this in my mailbox today. I wondered last night what Sheldon Silver's challenger (the SG friend Paul Newell) would say about Silver's shutting down the democratic process over a bill that is clearly in the best interests of the city. I didn't have to wait long, this message was waiting in my email box. Good stuff:

Challenger Paul Newell Criticizes Sheldon Silver's Congestion Dodge

Today, Paul Newell, Sheldon Silver's challenger in this year's 64th Assembly District Democratic Primary, criticized Silver's backroom dealings denying accountable government to New Yorkers, saying "Sheldon Silver's failure to even schedule a vote on congestion pricing shows his contempt for both the democratic process and concerns of Lower Manhattanites."

Newell continued to criticize Silver's deceptive approach. "New Yorkers deserve a legislature that openly debates issues rather than quietly killing them behind closed doors. After 32 years in Albany, Sheldon Silver's culture of failure denies accountability and representation to 19 million New Yorkers, and stifles innovative policy solutions. Congestion Pricing is too important an issue to be swept under the rug by Sheldon Silver".

Silver's secretive pre-emption of any vote on the issue comes on the heels of his refusing to disclose his highly suspicious side income with a powerful NY law firm. "Silver's continuing trend of secrecy and his subversion of the voter's right to have their leaders actually lead had caused too much damage to our state," Newell added.

Congestion pricing is of vital concern to Lower Manhattan. Newell pointed out that the 64th Assembly District includes the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges and the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, with the Holland Tunnel just a few blocks away, saying "There is no community in New York State more directly impacted by traffic congestion than ours".

Only 2.3% of Lower Manhattanites drive to work and the vast majority of Downtowners use public transportation. These riders stood to gain from congestion pricing with urgently needed improvements at the Brooklyn Bridge, Whitehall Street, East Broadway, Bowery, Grand Street and South Ferry subway stations and increased service on the M15 bus line.

Noting that all three Lower Manhattan City Councilmember supported the home rule message, Paul Newell asked why Silver is so out of step with the district's needs. "It's clear that Silver views his constituency as the caucus in Albany and not the people of Lower Manhattan What is the point of being represented by the Speaker when he fails to stand up for our vital concerns?".

###
Campaign for New York's Future AD 64 fact sheet: http://www.e-benchmarks.com/congestion/factsheets/mh/silver64.pdf

Daily News on Asthma zones 6/17/2007 - http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2007/06/17/2007-06-17_citys_worst_asthma_zones_sniffed_out.html

Tri-State Transportation Campaign and the Pratt Center for Community Development on AD 64 - http://www.tstc.org/reports/cpsheets/NYCassembly_factsheet_district%2064.pdf

NY Post 2/29/08 on Silver's side income- http://www.nypost.com/seven/02292008/news/regionalnews/silver_picks_crony_for_judge_panel_99783.htm

The Next President?

From Harper's Magazine:

American housing prices continued to fall, and financial institutions worldwide, which have lost $295 billion so far, were expected to lose hundreds of billions more.

1 2 McCain asked mortgage lenders to provide voluntary aid to homeowners, recalling that General Motors had offered no-interest car financing after September 11.

Senator Hillary Clinton suggested consulting former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. While Clinton conceded that Greenspan helped cause the current crisis, she claimed that he has a “calming influence” on Wall Street. “Don't ask me why,” she said, “because I never understand what he's saying.”

Obama Nets Seven Delegates Out of Iowa Convention

From Political Wire:

Chuck Todd: "The Clinton and Obama campaigns just got done fighting over Iowa... again! The state's 99 county Democratic parties held conventions today and the two campaigns were actively fighting to gain even more pledged delegates. At stake: the 14 pledged delegates John Edwards earned during the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses.""Tonight, the Obama campaign claimed a gain of 7 pledged delegates, added to the 16 they earned on Jan. 3. Obama's manager, David Plouffe, also said their math had Clinton actually losing one of her 15 delegates that she garnered on Jan. 3. BTW, if the 7 number is accurate, it would be two short of what Clinton netted out of Ohio."The Clinton campaign disputes losing any delegates but admits Obama gained.

Update: Todd confirms Obama won 7 new delegates and says Clinton also gained one. There are still six Edwards delegates up for grabs at the convention.

Update II: Some are calling the evening a 10+ delegate take for Obama. He gained nine, while Clinton lost one last night. That erases Ohio. Stunning.

Obama (Finally) Wins Texas

This is not a joke, the Main Stream Media is finally coming around to the reality. Clinton won the primary 51-48 and 65 delegates to Obama's 61. But, the caucuses are about finishing up and it looks like Obama will gain 37 more delegates to Clinton's 30. I will do the math for you and Obama will win 98 and Clinton 95.

Even the popular vote will be won by Obama. Check it out:
TX Primary Result
Clinton 1,459,814
Obama 1,358,785

TX Caucus Result
Not formally tabulated but if we derive from the available totals we have good approximate numbers
Clinton 440,000
Obama 560,000

Grand Popular Vote Totals (Primary + Caucus)
Clinton 1,469,814 + 440,000 = 1,909,814
Obama 1,358,785 + 560,000 = 1,918,785

You get the point. The goal posts were moved for a Clinton win. The MSM bought it and here we go. Let us hope for Wyoming and Mississippi. Wyoming, I am a little worried about.

Below, here is Terry MaCaullife explaining why Hillary can win even if she doesn't win in delegates, states or popular vote. This isn't democracy folks.

Is Junior Tuesday a Wash?

Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island go to Hillary Clinton. Ten points in Ohio, 19 points in Rhode Island and about three points in Texas (with more delegates from the caucus to come which Obama is leading). All in all it was certainly a good night for Clinton...or was it?

Since we are down to the nitty gritty in this campaign and there are no winner take-all states (thank god for proportional democracy) her big night turns out could be a one delegate win. Seriously, check the numbers:

Vermont (15 delegates) Barack got 60 percent of the vote
9 - Obama
6 - Clinton

Rhode Island (21 delegates) Hillary got 59% of the vote
12 - Clinton
8- Obama

Texas (primary) link (126 delegates) 51% for Clinton
64 - Clinton
62 - Obama
These are estimates and could go up for Obama because of the African-American vote

Texas (caucus - 67 delegates not near final)
37 -Obama
30 - Clinton

total
99 - Obama
94 - Clinton

Ohio - 54% for Clinton - Results
73- Clinton
68 - Obama

That is a split of Clinton - 185 and Obama 184. Amazing. Mrs. Clinton certainly has bragging rights, but she did not win anything. Obama surely will make this up in Wyoming and Mississippi. According to both campaigns Obama entered last night with a 159 pledged delegate lead. So, the lead is now 158?

One thing that is true today is Obama needs to react to the negative barrage of attacks on all fronts he received over the last week. Seven weeks of this and he could be seriously down for the count. His campaign needs to react.

Update: Clinton's win may be up to ten delegates, still very modest.

Hillary Set to Win Tonight

Predictions:

Here are the latest polls for both Ohio and Texas. Hillary Clinton is surging after her fearmongering commercial, her endorsement of John McCain and the interruption by the Canadian government as well as the Rezko issue.

My predictions for tonight are as follows:

Rhode Island: 55-45 HRC

Vermont : 63-37 BO

Ohio: 54-46 HRC

Texas: 49-48 HRC

She still will not have enough delegates to even make a dent, in fact it is likely if Obama does not get the Texas primary he will get the caucus and will get more delegates. Hillary will have bragging rights after tonight, but that is all she will have. And it will be time for her to get out. But, her strategy is clear. Win tonight in Texas in Ohio (if she doesn't win both she has to get out), keep the pressure on Barack, keep pushing the fearmongering and keep pushing the Rezko issue, seat the Florida and Michigan delegates, win in Pennsylvania and then hope Obama makes some mistakes and loses his cool, grip or something else. Because even with her strategy going 100 percent in her favor, she still loses in pledged delegates.

But, believe it, she will go on after tonight no matter what happens. Daily Kos disagrees with me however and is giving Obama the nod by far. I am just not believing it.

Chris Dodd Endorses Obama

Chris Dodd is endorsing Barack Obama. Obama's campaign hopes that the March 4 primaries in Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island will be the victory that clinches the Democratic nomination for him. When he faces Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in another debate tonight -- the last before these pending primaries -- he'll do it with Dodd in his corner.

It's unclear what Dodd's task will be with the campaign or whether he'll be hitting those last two New England states still awaiting primaries next week. But if Obama eventually gets the nomination, Connecticut's two senators will be in opposing campaigns. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman is one of Republican Sen. John McCain's staunchest allies.

Chris Dodd has been a lion on the FISA debate and would be a step-up as Majority leader in the Senate.

Delegate Math for the Democrats

I have been doing some math and some perusing around the internet regarding this democratic race to take back our Presidency to at least some form of people, not corporations. I am crossing my fingers anyway. But, the math for Mrs. Clinton does not add up. Anyway you slice it she must rely on the superdelegates. And one more thing, there is no way this race comes down to March 4th. This thing is going a long way. Right now wikipedia (this is a good source for this information because they have been keeping track and they only award delegates when they are actually awarded, not estimated) has the delegate count at pledged delegates 1124 for Obama and 984 for Clinton. That is a lead of 140 delegates.

With Wisconsin (70 delegates) and Hawaii (20 delegates) upcoming Obama should be expected to pick up a few "net" delegates. Even if Wisconsin stays pretty close, which I think it will; he should win Hawaii by a huge margin. Then, on March 4th there are 380 pledged delegates (Rhode Island, Vermont, Texas and Ohio) up for grabs. In my opinion the only way this thing ends is if Mrs. Clinton loses both states. It is true if Obama does well Mrs. Clinton is in trouble, but no way in hell is she out of it and with the super delegates waiting in the wings to decide this nomination I doubt seriously this will end soon.

Small contests of Mississippi and Wyoming happen later in March, but nothing of any substantiality until April 22nd in Pennsylvania which will be close no matter what people say right now. In the middle of May we still have North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky, Oregon and Puerto Rico all with substantial delegate counts.

If we think somehow Howard Dean is going to broker a deal before the convention we are sadly mistaken. If Obama was down that certainly would be the case, but the Clintons will not be stopped. There is no down for them. It is the Presidency or nothing. They have already been there, what compromise could possibly be struck?

This is good politics, good theater, but is it good for the general is the real question? On another note, I do not like the safety right now of Obama's campaign. He seems to be playing it safe, ala New Hampshire. And if Mrs. Clinton wins Wisconsin next week, though the delegate math will be quite small for a win, the bragging rights could take her right up to Junior Tuesday for a big win and on to Pennsylvania. If she wins all three then maybe we need to start calling Al Gore. Regardless, of the outcome it is fun, but I am crossing my fingers for Wisconsin and then a win for Obama in Ohio or Texas and I believe some pressuring on the Clintons as well as the media talking about it being over could help it along. I doubt seriously, however we have any idea what happens until Pennsyvlania.