DR's playful fantasy in TomPaine.com, about a Gore/Obama administration in 2009, is not only very attractive, but actually makes sense.  It is hard to imagine Obama settling for the VP spot with any other candidate.  (I do not know if he and John Edwards know each other very well; I suspect they would sincerely like each other, if they do not already.  Paul Krugman recently praised Edwards' thoughtful plan on health care reform, in part at Obama's expense: that surely will have put Obama on notice.)

Gore of course is not (yet?) a candidate.  But CNN has reported that some kid from way out in Seattle, of all places, has started a "Draft Gore!" movement.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

He reminds me a Bush and his bed fellows cuddling up to "feel good" fantasies, instead of being strong and standing on his own platform, and showing he is capable of true leadership.

If he rises to the top job, the USA might as well just lie down and let the steam rollers roll.

The US can not afford another series of presidential blunders.  

Gore and Hillary are puppets.

Just where are all your wise men ?? all gone it seems.  Oh well rise and collapse is the mode of decay.

Maybe with a minority as vice president, a majority of people would be forced into acceptance or at least silence. Edwards and Obama- if they stand up to big oil and world domination with strength and confidence, could bring about a return to the 'city on the hill'. Terrorist will have no support if we are again seen as a positive force in the world.

a liberal in redsville

A disappointment of a different kind is the news of John Edwards' multi-million dollar house, which he is having built on a huge spread of land.  According to the report that I saw, this house costs $1 million more than the next most valuable property in the county.  I like the man, as I have written more than once, and I do not begrudge him his wealth.  But this certainly does not send the right message ...

(But on a totally different, much happier note, I am delighted that Birdboy, aka Puer Avialis, has returned to us Gristmill readers, some time in the past couple of days, after a too too long migration.)

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

J.S.

Economic Illiteracy Harms The Planet! www.voicesofreason.info.

The impossible may just happen, that we democrats give a loser another chance.  The word on Gore is he did not really lose in 2000.  

Scalia appointed Bush by stopping the Florida recount.  I believe that is the case and I think most democrats do too.  That is a great reason to break the party rule of thumb.

Maybe DR was right to ask Al is he is going to run?  My mistake for criticizing the interview.

For environmentalist democrats the question is this.  Will Hillary continue the Clinton legacy of pandering to corporate power at the cost of planet earth's climate?  Would Gore stand up for the planet against corporate power if he got the top job?

He was under the Clinton thumb as VP, so he couldn't get an environmental agenda going.

   

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

So we'd better start accepting some politician-like behaviour from men and women whose hearts are in the right place. Otherwise our fanciful dreams will remain dreams, and reality will be a nightmare.

Comparing Obama to Bush is about as helpful as comparing Kennedy to Nixon: Aye, they were both men.

What is wrong with these people?  Does anyone seriously believe that "half-breed" is still an insult?  Aren't we all half-breeds (or quarter-breeds, or 1/16th breeds) of one sort or another?

I'm Scottish-Irish-Finnish and my skin is substantially mottled with freckles.  I suppose that is much more germane to my ability to govern than, say, my knowledge of government, my stance on issues, my ability to bring people together for a common goal.  

Harumph.

My middle name is "Marie" by the way.  As in Marie "Let Them Eat Cake" Antoinette.  Not quite as good as Hussein, I'll grant you, but... I'm sure the inventive Rushies could do a number on it.

Alas, that tactic probably will work.  Hopefully, it will not go far.

If I were a Muslim, I would be extremely offended by this:
<<
Greetings. You are tuned to the most listened-to radio talk show in America. El Rushbo, the all-knowing, all-caring, all-sensing, all-feeling, all-concerned -- pretty much all-everything -- Maha Rushie.
>>

This is a silly parody of traditional Muslim titles of God.

As it is, I am offended enough, as a non-Muslim liberal.

What does the "Maha Rushie" bit mean?  As though the religions of India and Islam are equivalently stupid and vile, nevertheless that they are totally distinct?

Is this American glory, American pride?  Is this what Republicans are all about, when they boast they are "strong on defense, strong on security"?  Is this what Americans do on the 4th of July: celebrate their colossal ignorance of the rest of the world?

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

There's a mocking bird in my neighborhood that dominates my suet feeders. She visciously attacks any bird who trys to eat from any of the spots I put suet. Except birds of similar color- a warbler, still gray with winter plummage, the female juncos, they are allowed. I think she is jealous of those with color.

It's probably instinctive to distrust those who look different, sound different, or describe God differently; some of us have not yet evovled away from our destructive instincts.

By the way, thanks for the welcome back! I greatly missed your insightful waxing on the Nature of things. Please don't stop coloring the thread with that ancestor of science, philosophy. I've was distracted by birdsong (spiritual callings) I could not ignore. I needed to strengthen my connection to the elements- I've integrated a new (yet very old and very green) religion into my life. Unfortunately, it's name conjures up images that were fabricated long ago and are blindly reinforced today. I now understand why we have turned away from our Earth Mother, why we try to dominate Her and women in general (hint- Nature=physical pleasure=Woman=Sin). But I'm still trying to learn how to deal with the negativity that comes into my life every day- bulldozers, chainsaws, dirtbikes, Hummers, and an utter disregard for Nature. Worst of all is the knowledge that I am trapped in the system, part of the mechanism that devours the Earth. As you can see, I'm much better now. I jest.

a liberal in redsville

If played extremely well, Obama's blackness might even be an advantage with the kind of people who are viscerally racist enough to be unsure whether they're ready to vote for a black person.  Those kinds of people usually want to think of themselves as totally unprejudiced, and what better way to show it than by voting for a black man?  Unfortunately for Hillary, women have come so far that viewing women as inferior is now sneakily more acceptable.  We all know that racial equality hasn't ever been achieved, but I'm afraid there are still an awful lot of people who think the fight for equality is over for women, that it's a done deal, even when sexism is nearly as rampant as ever.  

Heck, I even know a woman who says she'd never vote for a woman for president because women are too emotional and can't make decisions when they have PMS!  I'm not sure what to say to something like that, you know?

It seems safe to say that at this point in US history, we are at last "ready" to elect a qualified woman or black person as president.

But prejudices perdure.  In his interview on "60 Minutes," Barack Obama was asked if he and his wife, sitting at his side, had prepared themselves for the special, racist kind of danger that Colin Powell and his wife fearfully considered in 1996.  God forbid, that anyone in America should be planning an evil plan, along the lines of those concerns.  But we must be realistic, there are people like that out there.

Prejudices against women are rather different, mostly of the sort that women are silly, flighty, crazy, ditzy, gossipy, unreasonable, unpredictable and not trustworthy.  Whereas men are solid, forthright, dependable, clear-thinking, trustworthy, honest, sincere, never running off when there is a sale at Saks; and we can all observe what a wonderful job they have been doing with managing the world, mostly without women's interference.

Actually, I could begin to like Hillary, if only she were a bit more ditzy.  In my book, ditziness is an unappreciated virtue.  How lovely it would be, if when the weather gets warm and she and her troops are in, say, Iowa or New Hampshire, she tells everybody to take off their shoes and socks, and go walking in the grass, or wading in the fountains.

Or is that a very naive hope?  Is it true that nowadays, women are more stern and serious and business-like than men ever were?

A story is told, of a Cabinet meeting in the Clinton White House.  Madeleine Albright, Donna Shalala, Robert Rubin and Robert Reich arrived early, and were waiting for everyone else.  Madeleine and Donna paired off and were talking for a bit; but in a pause in their conversation, they overheard what the men were saying: "What gorgeous shoes!"  "But I really like yours!"  "Where did you get them?!"  "How much did you pay?"  "You mean they were on sale?!"  "You know someone who gets shoes for you specially?!"  So Donna turned to Madeleine, and said, "You see, this is why we have always been afraid of putting men in positions of power."

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.