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Swiftboat encore

1 comments Posted by ousman ceesay at Friday, May 25, 2007

The Washington post is pimping a book written by the NewYork times reporter Jeff Gerth: author of a number of inaccurate and sloppy anti-clinton stories. Here is how the post put it:

"Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton," by Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr., reports that during her husband's 1992 campaign, a team she oversaw hired a private investigator to undermine Gennifer Flowers "until she is destroyed." Flowers had said publicly that she had an affair with Bill Clinton while he was governor of Arkansas.

 The book also suggests that Hillary Clinton did not read the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq in 2002 before voting to authorize war. And it includes a thirdhand report that the Clintons had a secret plan after the 1992 election in which he would have eight years as president and then she would have eight years, although last night a key source disavowed the story.

And thus begins the swiftboating of Hillary. This is the first of many to come, which will inundate us throughout any Hillary campaign. Hillary the lover of Vince Foster! Hillary the killer of Vince Foster! Hillary the lesbian! Hillary the (fill in the blank). It may not be fair to Hillary, but this is one reason I don't support her candidacy.

A democratic presidential ticket in 2008 with Hillary at the top of it will be a nightmare of frivolity and press-driven bullshit, all against her, as the media tells us how much fun that Fred Thompson is and what a calculating cold ambitious bitch he is trying to save us from.

 

Scholarships

3 comments Posted by ousman ceesay at Friday, May 18, 2007

I am not a fan of Yahya Jammeh and his totalitarian form of governance. However I think his government should be commended for trying to sponsor 300 Gambian students to study Engineering, medicine and agriculture in universities abroad. It is an investment in human capital, which will provide long term socio-economic benefits to our society. It beats the invesment in military hardware on any given day. Here is the story from the point newspaper:
Presidential Office to Sponsor Gambians to Universities Abroad
 Friday 18th May 2007
By Osman Kargbo
The Office of the President, through the efforts of H.E. President Yahya Jammeh, will be providing close to 300 scholarships to young talented Gambians to study in universities and colleges abroad, a press release from the President’s office has stated.
According to the release faxed yesterday to this paper, the sponsorship, which will commence in September 2007, will cover various disciplines with special emphasis in the Sciences such as Medicines, Engineering and Agriculture.
The release stated further: “The Office of the President is pleased to inform the general public that through the untiring efforts of His Excellency The President Alhaji Dr Yahya A.J.J Jammeh, training opportunities will be made available, commencing in the next academic year (September, 2007) for young talented Gambians to study in Universities and Colleges abroad.
“Nearly 300 scholarships will be available for study in various disciplines but with emphasis in the Sciences such as Medicines, Engineering, Agriculture among other disciplines.” It also said the scholarships would be made available to students from across the country. “Interested applicants should apply to the Office of The President and provide proof of citizenship and authentic academic results to back their application,” the release concluded.

My apologies to the point for going over my fair use privileges here.

 

Detroit Economic Club hosts Obama.

0 comments Posted by ousman ceesay at Monday, May 07, 2007

I was looking forward to attending Obama's speech at the economic club of Detroit today. But alas commitments at work make this impossible. However reading through the dispatches made about the speech in various newspapers, I am even more convinced that Barack Obama is one courageous politician.

 He walked into a meeting of the Economic Club of Detroit and proposed raising fuel efficiency. If you know anything about Michigan politics, you know that this is such a third rail in Michigan that even the Democrats from this area oppose raising CAFE standards. You don't mess with the big three automakers and their addiction to profits gained from producing big gaz guzzling sport utility vehicles.

 But Barack look them in the eye and told them the truth. Here is a passage from the New York times coverage of the event:
"For years, while foreign competitors were investing in more fuel-efficient technology for their vehicles, American automakers were spending their time
investing in bigger, faster cars," he said, according to a text of his remarks.
"And whenever an attempt was made to raise our fuel efficiency standards, the
auto companies would lobby furiously against it, spending millions to prevent
the very reform that could’ve saved their industry." In his speech, Mr.
Obama proposed stricter fuel economy standards, greater availability of tax
credits to consumers who buy hybrids or other ultra-efficient vehicles and
subsidies to help automakers pay health care expenses in return for greater
investment in advanced technology...Nytimes

 Leadership is effectively telling people something they may not be pre-disposed to hearing. Obama is right on this issue. And its not something that can be chalked up to evil-doing on Detroit's part, so much as simply their deeply ingrained corporate culture that dictates "Americans want bigger and more powerful cars, not efficient cars"... I don't know where they picked up that notion, but its simply not true.

 Obama is telling them the hard truth. And he didn't say this at a rally as a way to pander to crowds of consumers -- he went to where he could most effect change on the issue, the automakers themselves, to sell them on change. He's about results, at the end of the day.

 

Obama in Detroit

3 comments Posted by ousman ceesay at Sunday, May 06, 2007

Barack Obama will be holding a meeting at Cobo hall in Detroit tomorrow (may 7th). The schedule time for the meeting is 11am…yikes. How do supporters like yours truly miss such an opportunity? I signed up and will have to figure a way out of work to be at that meeting. As far as I am concerned, Obama will be the next president, whether the haters like it or not. Here’s why:

The GOP is just toast: ain’t going to happen, folks. Mormon-Romney and cross-dressing- twice divorced-Giuliani will never make it past the right wing nutties, who are used to GOP candidates pandering to them to get votes. And what about McCain? Stick a fork in him, he’s done. The Christian fundies don’t trust him and that stroll through a Baghdad market to prove that Iraq is safe while been guarded by a platoon and attack helicopters broke away the few independents who were giving him a chance.

What about Fred Thompson, the right-wing knight in shining armor? I think his strategy of wait-and-see isn’t going to work. He should’ve been in that debate the other night, and he wasn’t. Don’t even get me started on that hypocrite called Newt Gingrich.

The single most unfortunate thing for the Republicans: the Iraq war. It will be the gift that keeps on giving, and it’s not going to get any better. The GOP is tied to that war whether they like it or not, and I predict 2008 will suck for them.

How about the Democrats... John Edwards won’t get much traction, I predict. Getting a 400 dollar haircut while decrying against two Americas (rich and poor) kind of sums up how a bunch of people feel about him. Good guy overall.

But what about Hillary? The 600 pound gorilla. No one knows, of course, but I just think her negatives aren’t going to go away -- and I actually admire her and think she’s pretty bright. I also think people are desperate for a new face, a new direction in this country. It’s been a dreadful six years, hasn’t it?

Hence, Obama. Not just because he’s bright and motivated and thoughtful, but by process of elimination, he’s the only one left standing. That’s how I figure it, anyway. I may be wrong but I ‘m sticking by my candidate until the very end.

 

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