Image via WikipediaAmerica and Europe have been going through for two years what Japan has been going through for two decades, and so far America and Europe have been trying the same remedies that have not worked to get Japan out of its flunk.
For one there are no domestic remedies. America alone can not do it. Europe alone can not do it. Japan alone can not do it. The three economic giants of the past half century - America, Europe and Japan - have to come together and launch a global "Marshall Plan" and that is the only way out of this flunk. They should put together a trillion dollars each and create a pot of three trillion dollars. The biggest chunk of this money should go to connect every human being on the planet to broadband. This is Barack Obama's option to go to the moon.
We lack the data for the biggest problems in the world today.
A three trillion dollar global "Marshall Plan" to last a decade.
During the recent Blogger outage, a whole bunch of my blog posts got lost. And then all of them came back except this one at my Barackface blog. Since it had already been cross published at Technorati, I still had a copy.
The military action in Libya has absolutely been the right move. And a limited military action in Syria might be called for soon enough, something that is a week max. But military action is not an option when the tide of democracy finally hits Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, and China.
But military action is very much an option in the African countries. If a dictator anywhere in Africa uses full force against peaceful protesters, you give an ultimatum, you get UN authorization, and you take out the command and control structure, and that includes the top guy. But if they don't unleash animal brutality, instead they enter into peaceful negotiations, if they seek out political outlets, then military action can be avoided. But even in those instances the full non military might has to be put to the goal of getting the dictator out. That is the only acceptable outcome to any democracy movement. People do not get off the streets unless the dictator bows out.
Doing right in Libya and Syria is important. Unless democracy wins in those two countries, the democracy flames will not rise in Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Since there are no military options on the table for Saudi Arabi and Iran, we can hope and pray there will be massive street action. An agitated people willing to pour into every street in the capital city, a people willing to march onto the presidential palace can bring absolutely any dictator down. You have to be willing to sacrifice a few hundred lives.
Unless there is a total sweep of democracy across the Arab world and Africa, Russia is not going to wake up. And in this first phase Saudi Arabi and Iran are the only hard countries. Because there are no military options. Otherwise everywhere else aerial surgical strikes to take the top guy out if he crosses the line just might be the best option. When a killer goes on a shooting rampage at some mall, the police gun him down. Same thing.
This could all be done and over with in 2011, or it could spill over into 2012, and that would be just fine. The US military does not worry about Europe, because Europe is a bunch of democracies. Democracies don't go to war with each other. A total sweep of democracy across the world will allow America to do something it desperately needs get done to get rid of its budget deficit. America will then be able to vastly reduce its military budget and that is going to be a good thing.
China is tricky. Because China is not like Libya, not like Saddam's Iraq, China is not Iran, China is not even Russia. Physicists say if there is another universe, it might have different laws of physics. At some level China is politically like that. The Chinese president gets a meager salary. The Chinese president does not stay in power for life. The change of guard is pretty well done. Withing certain parameters, the Chinese Communist Party does have what might be called internal democracy. And, most important, China has lifted more people out of poverty than any power in history. They have been doing something right.
The democracy movement in China might start and conclude by asking for and getting fundamental political reform. There are amendments to the constitution so that other political parties are allowed, federalism is put into place, and human rights are guaranteed to the point Google gets to go back to China absolutely uncensored.
But if America truly wants to see democracy in China, it has to be willing to enact total campaign finance reform in one swoop. Democracy is one person, one vote. And America does not have that democracy.
The way this democracy wave will conclude is China will become more like America and America will become more like China. America will also have to make way for a global currency. It can not be the dollar forever more.
This global wave of democracy is going to hit America's shores as well. Done right it is going to bring total campaign finance reform to the American political system.
When all is said and done, Putin is out, but the Chinese Communist Party is still in power, one among many political parties in China.
The Atlantic: Hillary Clinton: Chinese System Is Doomed, Leaders on a 'Fool's Errand': she was, as usual, fluent, comprehensive, and in total control of the details. ....... China, and its frightened reaction to the Arab Spring, came up, that she took an almost-Reaganesque turn, calling into question not just Beijing's dismal human rights record, but the future of the Chinese regime itself. ....... questioning the long-term viability of the one-party system ....... she sees the Arab Spring as the harbinger of a worldwide move toward democracy. ...... They just had a riot in Bangladesh because the government wants women to inherit equally. That's a red line, and that infringes on the rights of women, and therefore, I am against it ...... we are losing the war of ideas because we are not in the arena the way we were in the Cold War. ..... China is starting an English-speaking television network around the world, Russia is, Al Jazeera. And the BBC is cutting back on its many language services around the world. We're not competing. I just feel like we're missing an opportunity. And I'm well aware of our budget constraints and all of the difficulties we face, but now is the time — not in an arrogant way, but in a matter-of-fact experiential way. ....... power is diffuse. It is no longer the province of just governments. There's too much going on in the world today. People know too much. So we have to start dealing with people on a more direct basis. ....... the dispersal of power through information that was unimagined a decade ago, let alone 50 years ago. ....... But we don't walk away from dealing with China because we think they have a deplorable human rights record. We don't walk away from dealing with Saudi Arabia — ....... We don't have to blow. The winds are blowing. There's no stopping them. And what we have tried to do with him is to give him an alternative vision of himself and Syria's future. ....... with the Revolutionary Guard basically in charge ....... following the fall of the Berlin Wall, how Germany responded and Poland responded, you couldn't say that there was one template that fit all. ....... you can look at transitions to democracy in Latin America and in Europe — look at Spain and Portugal. There's no two that are exactly alike.
Image via WikipediaThose are the two options we are looking at in Libya. And the world can not simply wait and watch.
This guy, from day one, made up his mind to use total brute force to quell the democracy movement. He will not stop at anything. He will bomb his own people from the air. He will send in troops to recapture lost cities. He will kill. In the thousands.
The world does not have the option to wait and watch. Sending in troops would be a mistake. But not enforcing a no fly zone is to offer the Libyan people to the butcher on a plate. To stand by and do nothing is wrong.
If Gaddafi succeeds that is going to cost us in terms of momentum. Then we might not see uprisings in other countries that deserve them. But if Gaddafi is defeated in Libya, the momentum will go all the way to China, to Russia. And let's face it, Russia is no democracy either.
Summer could see action in China, in Russia. But not if we let the momentum break now in Libya. Democracy has to see victory in Libya.
Dozens of students, trade unionists and political activists who gathered to watch Al Jazeera and BBC news reports on the uprisings that brought down autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt have been arrested on suspicion of plotting to oust President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
Image via WikipediaKick Mugabe out. Let black Africa wake up too. Why do only Arabs get to have the good stuff?
This dude Mugabe is an absolute nightmare. On the planet he is absolutely the number one example of how a dictatorial virus mutates.
If you want elections, he will give you elections. If you want political parties, he will give you political parties. If you want an opposition leader, he will give you even that. He might even invite that opposition leader to come join his government. But beneath all that is a sheer reign of terror. There is dictatorship. There is autocracy.
This guy likes to talk about race. I know race. I have been offended by racism for as long as I can remember. This guy is no racial messiah. He is a brute dictator. He is an animal. He does not have a second thought about unleashing violence upon his own people.
This guy epitomizes corruption, and brutality. This guy is the prime example of the message that black skin surely is not enough. You also need humanity. You need rule of law. You need basic democracy. You need freedom Image via Wikipediafrom fear. You need respect for human rights. You need free and fair elections.
You need Mugabe out. I know of an island in the Pacific where he should be sent to spend the rest of his days.
This revolution for democracy has to go beyond the Arab world. It has to go to black Africa. It has to go to China.
“People in cities that fail to organize assembly successfully this time, please go ahead with similar assemblies at 2:00pm of every Sunday afternoon,” said the invitation to protest posted on the overseas Chinese website www.boxun.com, “Persistence means success!”
This is a smart strategy. China will be the very last prize. After every single autocratic regime in the Arab world has been toppled - and that could easily take weeks, possibly a few months - after every autocratic regime in Africa has been brought down, by then the people in China will have warmed up.
Once the people pour out into the streets, there is nothing anybody can do. China could have an interesting outcome. This is what I suggest. Let the people come out into the streets. Don't organize a massacre. Agree to a major constitutional reform such that it becomes legal to organize political parties. Offer federalism.
The revolution in China could see the Communist Party of China keeping power but making way for multi-party democracy and a full fledged respect for human rights. Google gets to go back to China.
Personally I am even more interested in Burma than China. The animals ruling Burma need to be executed by an international tribunal.
Image via WikipediaAn autocratic regime does not have to meet the demands of a peacefully demonstrating people, but when that regime unleashes heinous brutality upon those peaceful demonstrators, it has crossed a line, and such a dictator deserves a Caecescu death. That still fits the definition of non-violence.
Khameini in Iran crossed that line. There was no limit to the kind of brutality he was willing to unleash. Gaddafi has gone down that same path. They kill demonstrators. They open sniper fire on mourners. They fire army colonels who refuse to carry out the vicious, inhuman orders.
A line has been crossed in Libya. The dictator in Libya has crossed the line. And it is for the masses to rise up like a tsunami. It is time to take over Tripoli.
The masses have what it takes to bring victory on behalf of their peoples. This tide will not stop. This wave will keep on keeping on. The Arab world is finally rising like it never has in its entire history. This is a first.
Image via Wikipedia2011 is 1989, and this year belongs to the Arab world and to Africa. People are rising. People will rise. They will take over the streets. This is a momentum game. If you let the momentum die you have to wait years, perhaps you have to wait for another generation. That would be too wasteful. The time is now. The time is today. The time is this year.
The streets are on fire. Stoke the fire.
Peaceful demonstrators have a right to demonstrate. Regimes that open fire on such demonstrators have to be countered by peoples and governments all over the world. The US government has to step in with everything at its disposal, upto and including use of surgical military strikes.
A regime does not have to accept the demands of peacefully demonstrating people, but no regime has a right to unleash brutality upon peacefully demonstrating peoples. There are reports demonstrators are being shot at, from the ground, from helicopters in the sky. Image via Wikipedia
That can not be tolerated. America has to step in. It has to warn such governments. It has to use all levers of government power to make sure such brutality is not tolerated.
America was born with a mission. That mission was a total spread of democracy. 2011 is a special year. It is like 1989 all over again. And America has a role to play. People have a right to peacefully demonstrate. That right has to be protected.
A monarcy, any monarchy, is a feudal institution. Every single monarchy in the region has to go. Unelected leaders don't belong in the seats of power. If you were not elected, simply leave.
Image via WikipediaMubarak might try to do that. He might decide to punish the people of Egypt by leaving but then handing over the reins to the top generals in the Egyptian army. That might be his way of saying if you think I was bad, how about this?
Mubarak does not have that option. The people of Egypt are not asking for a military dictatorship. That is what they have had for decades. They are in the streets asking for its end, not rejuvenation.
The mightiest army in the world is powerless in the face of a people who have woken up. And the people of Egypt have woken up.
This is how this drama ends. Mubarak leaves. He does not have to leave the country. He just vacates the seat of power. The constitution is amended to get rid of all anti human rights clauses and to make room for an interim government. An interim president - a civilian democrat like that dude who won the Nobel Prize - comes in with an interim cabinet. That interim cabinet brings in an interim constitution within six months and elections to a constituent assembly are held within a year of taking power. At that point the interim cabinet hands over power to that assembly.
I have been seeing a lot of buzz around this event at NYU this evening. I signed up and I think you should too. Pass it on.
NextGen Africa Forum
Monday, June 14, 2010 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (ET)
NYU's Kimmel Center
60 Washington Square South
New York, NY
And there is an after party at Amity Hall, proceeds from drinks to go to Goods4Good.
80 West 3rd St
Amity Hall is showing all World Cup games live. That would be one great reason for many people to keep going back there: to celebrate Africa. I love soccer.
Of the 2.2 billion children that populate the world, 163 million of them are parentless. ..... "It's getting worse," Aronson explained. "The number [of vulnerable children and orphans] is increasing because the number of adults living with AIDS and other diseases is increasing; because of conflict and war... These are all large contributors. But the most important reason is the increase of extreme poverty. This is an issue which has been growing over the decades; the hundreds of millions of people living in poverty is growing daily, and the financial crisis we're living in today is adding to that." ....... Goods for Good, a New York-based nonprofit organization, that partners with international corporations and grassroots organizations to provide school supplies, clothing, health products, and other necessities to orphans and vulnerable children in developing nations. ........ "Children's and women's issues are not given their due in mainstream press -- they're the least interesting topics in the media. And yet they're the most interesting topics -- because the success of the planet is up to them," Aronson said with conviction. "If I were asked, what would be the best bang for you buck in helping the world be a better place to live, I'd say it would be investing in women and their families -- so that all women would have prenatal care, and so their babies are born healthy, and their families could live in a healthy environment."
Dr. Jane Aronson
Joyce Banda
Ann Veneman
Dr. Claire Gaudiani
Melissa Kushner
This event is not going to be easy to attend. I am already going through so many emotions. So many large scale problems grip the continent of Africa. But one has to always make the effort to fall on the side of hope, not despair.
I roam the tech circles in town hoping to contribute to the idea of universal broadband. I am a Third World guy. Africans at college looked so different, but they knew what mud huts were, and we bonded. I was one of Obama's earliest supporters in New York City. 500 years of world history can not be remedied in five years, but the journey has to begin.
On my way to this event I am also reminded of Madonna. I have always liked her. So I was not surprised with her Malawi work.
I think Europe and America need to pay reparations to Africa for those decades and centuries of colonization. But instead we have a scenario where the net flow of money is from Africa to elsewhere. A nice middle ground between what I propose and what is happening right now would be total debt relief for Africa. The continent deserves a fresh start. There is a direct correlation between Africa's inhuman debt burden and its AIDS, malaria and other epidemics. Money that should go to feed people and provide medicine for the sick is instead going to banks on Wall Street, among others. This is not okay. Okay?
AIDS Epidemic In Africa, Obesity Epidemic In America
It really is similar. If you cure obesity in America, that will be more than a trillion dollars in savings. That is no pocket change, yo.
Will Barack Not Start On Day One?
What is this talk about Hillary starting on day one as president? Does Barack have different plans? Does he plan to take a week long break into Camp David after getting sworn in? What's going on? Someone fill me up on this one.
The Republican Fighting Spirit
I can see them fighting all the way to their convention. They might end up with an actual vote at the convention. Right now it looks no one Repub will get a decisive victory, but all of them will get delegates. And so they will have to sort it all out at their convention. A few rounds of voting. Delegates will shift.
I am going to credit Obama for this. Seriously. Hillary could not have been riding the anti-Iraq War mood in the country. She was part and parcel of it. I was saying Barack will carry more than 35 states in fall. Now I am jacking that up. I am saying 40. And black guys like Al Sharpton still got no clue. Harlem needs a rescue mission. Obama 2008 already covered all the hair salons in Harlem. They were so happy to take Obama posters. Way to go Tamara. Tell Sharpton, the dude needs a haircut bad.
Only a few days back Europe gave record money to the World Bank. I am also going to credit Obama for this. Seriously.
When Obama talked tough on Musharraf months back, suddenly the Supreme Court in that country also started talking tough. That was no coincidence.
Ah, the soft power of a compelling candidate like Barack Obama. Barack is about to pull a FDR in 1940. That is really remarkable. I am going to study more on this new kind of politics thing.
Two Way Contest In NH
That is what you are looking at. My guy Barack is already leading even when it is not two way. But in two way, he will have a wide margin.
In The News
Iran Receives Nuclear Fuel in Blow to US New York Times Russia delivers first nuclear fuel to IranMSNBC People of Terai want to secede from Nepal Hindustan TimesUpendra Yadav, the convener of Unified Madheshi Front, said if the Girija Prasad Koirala-led government continued to suppress their demands, they will be left with no option but to get out of Nepal. ....... Yadav alleged that Koirala, instead of resolving their grievances, is using force to suppress them. The government raised a Special Task Force (STF) recently to crush the uprising in Terai. ...... “The STF has unleashed a reign of terror in Terai,” Rajendra Mahato, former industries minister and senior leader of Nepal Sadbhawana Party, said, adding that human rights of the poor are being violated. Giuliani Pins Hopes on Big Later States The Associated Press beginning with Florida on Jan. 29. ...... Giuliani has a wide lead in that state, and he hopes winning its 57 delegates will give him the delegate-count lead heading into the bigger-prize states that vote Feb. 5, including California, New York and Illinois. ....... Michigan and Nevada are muddles ..... no one candidate riding a wave of momentum into Florida. ..... Giuliani has double-digit leads in four states in which the winner takes all the delegates: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware. He also has an advantage in California, where delegates are divvied up by congressional districts. ....... his consulting business, Giuliani Partners, whose clients include the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar. ...... Giuliani has chosen to press ahead with his untested strategy rather than change course. ....... "leading a revitalized, 50-state Republican Party into the White House" India to hold high-level meet on Maoist rebels: report AFPcombat a firmly rooted left-wing rebel movement ...... say they are fighting for the rights of landless labourers and neglected tribals in rural India ..... 33 districts, more than half of them in two newly created eastern states -- Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh The Daily Five: Clinton Steals A Georgia Endorsement From Obama Atlantic Online Fresh Doubts About Clinton in NHWashington Post "Where has the 'conversation' gone that she said she wanted to start with her announcement last January? It seems as if she is talking 'to' or 'at' us, even 'down' to us. She needs to talk 'with' us -- in fact, one of the strengths of the NH Primary is that candidates indeed have that chance, to get away from the podiums and look us in the eye, face-to-face, not talking over our heads." ........ the relative caution and message-controlled rigor of Clinton's campaign ...... her campaign still has continued to emphasize 'experience' rather than 'ideas,' and the 'past' rather than the 'future.' ...... no clear message other than this stuff about a President needing to be ready to 'lead from day one.' What's that mean? ........ " ....... Saturday, where she stuck firmly to the experience mantra and, most notably, made little attempt to try to conjure a longstanding connection with the state's voters ........ I just think something's wrong with her campaign right now. I've been involved at one level or another in every NH Primary since 1960 ....... did not appear to be tailoring her approach particularly to the audience -- she spoke very slowly and clearly, as if aiming to reach the least politically engaged people in the crowd, an interesting tack to take in a state known for its sophisticated primary voters. ........ recalls Clinton thinking aloud to him ....... show us who she really is and not just what her consultants and handlers from Washington media firms want us to think she is ....... "And I ask her to present her ideas in her own words, without the buzz phrases that might rate "80%" on the electronically-generated curve in some focus group session" ...... Be yourself. Just yourself. We'll like what we see...Challenge us. Talk with us about America's possibilities and our opportunities. Give us your vision. Commentary: Drug rumors about ObamaCNN the Clintons don't like to be challenged. And when they are, they don't just try to beat you. They set out to destroy you. ....... The harder Team Clinton tries to destroy Obama, the more damage they wind up doing -- to Hillary and her campaign. Just when you thought that the former first lady couldn't come across any more unlikable, desperate, and vindictive, the floor collapses and we find ourselves on a new level. .......... Shaheen is no political rookie. ....... Isn't it interesting that Shaheen, or whoever is behind this, opted to invoke the image of a drug dealer in referencing the first top-tier black candidate for president? That's quite a coincidence. This wouldn't be an ugly Willie Horton-type tactic intended to harvest fear and play on stereotypes about who is a criminal and who isn't, or -- in this case -- who uses drugs and who sells them? Clinton hits back at ObamaAFP Clinton launched a counter-attack Monday ..... Clinton, on an intense helicopter tour of first-voting state Iowa, blitzed six morning television talk shows ...... Most opinion surveys in key states show Obama rising, and Clinton sliding, suggesting the first-term Illinois senator may be peaking at the right time. ....... "When Obama speaks before a crowd, he can be more inspirational than Clinton. Michelle Obama utters a forbidden phraseLos Angeles Times Fighter Edwards vs. realist Obama?Chicago Sun-Times While all the Democrats back universal health coverage, the campaign has centered on how the front-runners would get it done. ...... Obama said Edwards' approach is not realistic. ...... "My job is to be so dazzling today that I have persuaded at least some of you to caucus for me." As lawyer, Obama was strong, silent type why did Obama never make impassioned speeches in court when he returned to Chicago from Harvard Law School in the early '90s ....... he played the "strong, silent type" in court, introducing himself and his client, then stepping aside to let other lawyers do the talking. ....... Obama never lost his cool, and he won the case. ....... Obama admits he played a mostly behind-the-scenes role at his law firm, Miner Barnhill & Galland. He researched the law, drafted motions, prepared for depositions and did other less glamorous work during his three years full-time and eight years "of counsel" to the firm. ....... "I was an associate, and a lot of my work was in the research and writing" ...... "I was one of the better writers. I ended up doing the more cerebral writing, less trial work," Obama added. "That's actually something I regret -- not doing more trial work." ....... "He wrote lots of substantial memos, but he didn't try any cases" ....... A search of all the cases in Cook County Circuit Court in which Obama made an appearance since he graduated from Harvard in 1991 shows: Zero. ....... a total of 10 cases in his legal career. He was on the winning side of just about all those cases. ....... In 1995, former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar refused to implement the federal "Motor Voter" law, which Republicans argued could invite fraud and which some Republicans feared could swell the ranks of Democratic voters. ...... The law mandated people be allowed to register to vote in government offices such as driver's license renewal centers. ...... "Barack was a young kid when he came here," Miner said. "Senior lawyers are not going to be very deferential to Barack. He was not 'THE Barack Obama' yet." Obama was 32 in 1993 ....... "We had a raucous meeting shortly after the remand, and Barack was a very adamant spokesman for taking a very aggressive stance to try to repair the damage," Mollica said. "He's the one who put a charge in us that it was time to move and hold the state accountable." ....... Obama represented Calvin Roberson in a 1994 lawsuit against Citibank, charging the bank systematically denied mortgages to African-American applicants and others from minority neighborhoods. ........ I was the lead lawyer for Citibank and he was not very visible to me. ....... Obama's hourly rate of $165. ..... His final bill on the case was 138 hours, or $23,000. ...... Obama had offers from more prestigious, higher-paying firms. But he chose to work for Miner -- former Mayor Harold Washington's counsel -- because of his firm's focus on civil rights litigation and community redevelopment. ........ developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who back then had a reputation as "a star" of the urban renewal movement in Chicago. ........ "As smart as he is, he is very quick to appreciate all kinds of nuances with legal issues," Miner said. "He finds it very hard to shoot back a real quick, simple answer. His instinct was to better understand what the nuances were." ......... "I found he's a very smart, innovative, skilled, relentless advocate for his client," Baravati said. "When I met him, he reminded me of Abraham Lincoln." ....... Obama was elected to the state Senate, and Miner offered to keep him on salary and let him open a Springfield branch of the firm. ..... "He's such an honest guy. On the third day, he calls me up, 'Jud, I'm not going to have any time here, so I don't want to take a draw,'" Miner recalled him saying. Obama to Edwards: 'What did you do?' New Obama ad in Iowa Baltimore Sun Hillary Clinton Says Obama Not a Factor in Day-to-Day DecisionsFOX News Maybe it's because I don't have to get up before the crack of dawn every morning ........ She is also touring all 99 Iowa counties in the coming days by helicopter. ...... the paper hasn't picked a winner in more than 20 years ..... what it seems to have guaranteed is a second place finish in the caucuses ...... she said, "I feel really, really good about where my campaign is," and: "I believe that I will get the nomination and that I will be the next president." Obama confronts rumor he is a MuslimBoston Globe Obama yesterday confronted one of the persistent falsehoods circulating about him on the Internet - by going to church. Clinton has room to give Los Angeles Times Clinton campaign launches a preemptive attackLos Angeles Times Clinton still dominates in CaliforniaLos Angeles Times On the Road: Clinton Backers ‘Not on a Suicide Mission’New York Times Clinton’s “Every County Counts” tour ....... that flight diversion might make for one weary candidate. ...... any five of the top Republicans candidates, if the election were held today, would defeat you. ......... Obama is getting tougher against Edwards. ...... “Like Senator Edwards who is a good guy, he's been talking a lot about I am going to fight the lobbyists and the special interests in Washington. Well the question you have to ask is were you fighting for 'em when you were in the Senate? What did you do? Because I did something, immediately upon arriving in the Senate..." ...... Durbin and Obama are personally close and Durbin urged him to make the run. ...... Clinton, not having the same I’ll watch your back relationship with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has had to make sure her New York bases were covered this past year. ......... Clinton was on six morning shows ....... She was playing a lot of defense, pressed with questions following up on Bill Clinton’s interview with Charlie Rose where he said a vote for Obama was rolling the dice. I’m told there is a split in the Clinton campaign over whether or not Bill Clinton helps or hurts in his going after Obama. ......... But this campaign is about me and my ideas,” she said. ....... Over at NBC’s “The Today Show” David Gregory asked if Bill Clinton is a distraction at this point. ...... The campaigns are expecting more than the 124,000 who showed up in 2004. At the high school here, dozens of people just stood up when asked if they were going to caucus for the first time. Sharpton and Bill Clinton, Together in S.C. (21 comments) Managing a Post-Feb. 5 Campaign (16 comments)fast-paced, multi-layered campaign, there is growing sense among Republicans that for their contest at least — and perhaps for Democrats — Feb. 5 may not be the end of the line. And at the same time, Democrats are looking at a scenario where only two of their candidates emerge out of this state.” Managing a Post-Feb. 5 Campaign three tickets out of Iowa ...... Democrats are looking at a scenario where only two of their candidates emerge out of this state. ...... entirely plausible that Mike Huckabee of Arkansas will win the caucuses here; that John McCain of Arizona will win New Hampshire; that Mitt Romney of Massachusetts will win Michigan, Fred Thompson of Tennessee will win South Carolina and Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York will win Florida. ....... they could just divide the prize on Feb. 5 and move on to the next primary. ...... the race might not be over until the convention ...... This race just won’t close ...... The Republicans have four seriously viable candidates: Mr. Romney, Mr. McCain, Mr. Huckabee and Mr. Giuliani. ....... a third-place finish for Mr. Edwards would be the end of the line for him ....... a two-way contest between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama going into New Hampshire. On Polling: The Eccentricities of Iowa (December 12, 2007) their neighbor’s living room, or in a church basement, a VFW hall or a school auditorium ...... expecting a “record turnout ..... the state will allow people to register to vote on their way in. ...... the firm that conducts the Iowa poll, said they had picked up a precipitous decline for Howard Dean in their tracking poll four days before the Iowa caucuses. They predicted Mr. Dean would finish third, which he did ....... first-time caucus goers, who accounted for more than half of the Democratic caucus goers in 2004 ..... Turnout is so low, less than 10 percent ..... George Gallup, the founder of the Gallup poll, is from Iowa.
Image via WikipediaAmerica and Europe have been going through for two years what Japan has been going through for two decades, and so far America and Europe have been trying the same remedies that have not worked to get Japan out of its flunk. 
