Spade Work?

I guess Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said on the Today Show, Jan. 11, 2008, that Senator Barack Obama "hasn't done the spade work necessary to be president."

Freudian slip? Just an unfortunate choice of words? An appeal to the racist nature in some people? Whatever.

I choose to believe that it was just a slip of the tongue, that she only meant he hadn't done enough of his homework in foreign relations to be adequately prepared to be the president.

She obviously thinks she has. Pillow talk with Bill (I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt on this) doesn't count. I chat with my husband about politics, foreign and domestic, all the time and wouldn't in a million years consider myself ready to be president, senator, or anything in national government. But then I'm not Hillary. Thank God.

Who's the Old Geezer?

I've seen bad photos of Bill Clinton before, but this one takes the cake. It makes him look about fifteen years older than his true age. Perhaps it's the stooping to receive Hillary's caress. But he looks very gaunt.

Check out the expression on Hillary's face. Not one of her best. To me it reflects her conniving personality and her resistance to the obligatory hug of congratulations on her primary victory. Their "one big happy family" appearance is all too phony. She was probably throwing lamps at him yesterday after all the polls predicted a resounding defeat for her in favor of Senator Obama. Now she has to make nice.

These two need to get out of our political lives.

The Man Who Won't Go Away - 9 More Years of Him?

Bill Clinton is going to take a more active part in his wife's campaign for the presidency latest reports indicate. Goody. I'm sure that the initial plans for running Hillary's campaign did not include much of His Horniness' presence. Hillary needs to be presented as a separate entity worthy on her own bona fides for acquiring the position of the head of the USA, not some hanger-on to Bill's coattails with all the baggage that evokes.

Trouble is, she is riding on his coattails. She would never have been elected to the Senate without his having been President. The Democrat party would never have picked her out of Arkansas to run for the junior Senate seat from New York with Bill being ex-governor of that state. Everyone knows that, but it doesn't seem to matter.

Everyone also knows that she put up with years of his lies and infidelity in order to keep on keepin' on. Her fervent prayer was that his affairs not be made public knowledge. Well, the best "laid" plans oft gang astray, as they say. In spite of all the brouhaha after Bill's best "laid" plans with Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Monica, Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broderick, et al., she stayed with him until it was too late to cut and run. She bet on the magic aura of his name and it seems to have been a sure thing for her.

Here she is, the leading Democrat contender for the nomination and now is she pulling out the big gun, Billy Boy, to stump for her, at least in the short term. They'll see how it plays in Peoria. Slick Willy has starred in a slick production, thanks to their Hollywood connections, I'm sure, a "Look at how Wonderful Hillary Is!" video that showcases all the activities Hillary undertook in the past couple of decades. No mention of flying ashtrays or lamps, the Rose Law firm billing records, cattle futures, Castle Grande, Whitewater investigations here and there, FBI records, Travelgate, her brothers' involvement in Pardongate, her health care debacle, the vanishing White House furnishings, her blatant denial of Bill's infidelity (invented by the "vast right-wing conspiracy") and purported shock when, lo and behold, he had to confess to it.

Obama's threatening to overtake her in the polls necessitated the call to action for Bill. I'm sure his role will be carefully scripted to prevent his appearing to be coaching her. His position, as first gent, will be an unusual one, to be sure. He will be kept under control, probably by sending him abroad (ha!) as often as possible. In the meantime, get ready to see his snowy white head popping up relatively often, nodding in agreement to Hill's every utterance, giving her quick hugs and smooches (no passionate Gore-type kisses, no sirree) on podia all across America.

Fort Dix Six

In about 7 years, when the "Fort Dix Six" come to trial what will their leagal team use for a defense? It will probably be entrapment, or maybe excessive profiling. I can see it now - the poor Circuit City guy who was asked by the "FDS" to transfer a recording of their target practice and "Allah Akbaring" to DVD will be labeled as a government agent, free lancing to abuse the civil rights of the struggling minority immigrants. They wereonly just making a home movie. They didn't really mean to do any harm.

Yeah. Yeah.

The FBI informant who joined the group will be accused of leading these poor Muslims on a merry goose chase. He's the one who forced them to "pretend" to go along with his plans for destruction and death. He's the one who organized the purchase of weapons.

Just watch. The Democrats will decry such "Bushitler" tactics in the non-existent global war on terror and wind up defending all Muslim terrorists trapped in such a way.

By the way, did you notice how quickly the Democrats in the MSM all called these guys "homegrown"? Look again at their nationality and immigration status. No one can convince me that they were homegrown. Three of them were here illegally, smuggled in from Mexico. Four were Yugoslavian and one was from Jordan and one from Turkey.

Now, if they mean that the plot was hatched here in the US, O.K. We don't know yet whether or not these guys took marching orders from anybody. But this ragtag group, according to some, were not of "homegrown" fidelity or allegiance. Their allegiance was to violence, whether or not inspired by Islam. One at least was fond of calling Osama Bin Laden "Uncle Bennie."

How fortunate for the Fort Dix community, and others in New Jersey, as well as for the United States that these six terror suspects were stopped before they plied their terrible trade.

Rosie Strikes Again

The emcee of the annual luncheon of New York Women in Communications was non other than Rosie O'Donnell. She lived up to her reputation by delivering her special brand of off-color humor including the "F-word", and "Eat Me!", a reference to her feud with the Donald.

Some of the attendees professed to be offended by Rosie's remarks. Robert Zimmerman, a Democrat activist for progressive causes called her "vulgar and common." I agree she's vulgar but his remark that she is "common" says more about him than her. I believe those kind of remarks are anything but common, but that's beside the point.

Some thought it was fun to watch other people be offended. I don't need to say anything about that.

However, the NY Women in Communications' managing director, Beth Ellen Keyes, expressed the group's overall pleasure in having Rosie appear and do her thing. "She was just great."

O'Donnell's publicist, Cindi Berger, told the New York Post: "When you ask for Rosie, you know what you're getting. She's not a shrinking violet. She's a stand-up comedienne. She says things that are provocative." No kidding.

Let's play a little game. People who attend these functions, watch certain television shows, listen to certain radio broadcasts, do so of their own free will. If they don't want to subject themselves to Rosie's "humor", or see sex and violence on their TV sets, or hear entertainers' humorous remarks or political opinions, they don't have to. So, our game is to substitute the name "Imus" for "Rosie" in Ms Berger's statement above. "When you ask for Imus, you know what you're getting. (S)He's not a shrinking violet. He says things that are provocative."

Lest you think that the attendees were mostly telephone operators, the Women in Communications group included such celebrities as Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Meredith Vieira, Joan Didion, Arianna Huffington, Nora Ephron, Martha Stewart and Hillary Clinton. Barbara and Joy must be used to Rosie's nasty mouth by now but the others may not have become so jaded. I wonder how many of them railed against Imus' recent provocative remarks. I wonder how many of them will publicly denounce Rosie? Can I count them on one hand? One finger?

Spring is Sprung the Gras is Riz I Wonder Where the Birdies Is?

Yahoo. The warm weather is keeping me outside. It's much too pretty to be inside writing or reading blogs. I'll check in later; tomorrow it's supposed to rain.

STILL MORE ON IMUS

If you can stand more on the Imus fiasco, read this editorial from THE MANCHESTER, NH, UNION LEADER

The Imus standard: You can't Say That

Radio talk show host Don Imus called Rutgers' mostly black women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" and got fired. Al Sharpton falsely accused a white man of rape and incited a race riot that left several dead. Jesse Jackson called Jews "hymies." And yet they still mingle at the highest circles of Democratic Party politics.
Imus' comments were indefensible. Even if the women did have tattoos and look a bit street-tough, as Imus was trying to say, calling them whores was an insult too far. But is it a fireable offense for a "shock jock" who has built his career uttering juvenile comments, including regularly making what he calls "n----- jokes"?

What Imus said was a great deal tamer than what is routinely uttered by rappers who call women "bitches" and boast about using and abusing them. It is tamer than the misogynistic and even racist jokes numerous stand-up comics make a living uttering. How did this offensive but comparatively tame comment get a major radio host pulled from the air? Fellow syndicated radio host Neal Boortz has a theory.

Boortz thinks that the Left has finally figured out how to bring down talk radio: accuse the hosts of racism. Unable to compete with talk radio, the Left has opted to play thought police. Racial prejudice is the last free speech taboo in America. Peg a broadcaster as racist, and you can bring him down.

"Liberals see this whole Imus situation as a way to rid themselves of the problem of talk radio ... they will turn their attention to the rest of us. The tape recorders will be running. There is not one single significant right-of-center radio talk show out there that is not going to come under fire."

Boortz has a point. Calling black women "hos" is not offensive to the cultural Left. If it were, there would be boycotts of rap stars and record labels. But if it presents an opportunity to go after a non-liberal talk radio host, the Left will take it. With one notch on their belt, they'll be sure to seek others.

Meanwhile, the same people who demanded Imus' head on a pike will continue to give platforms to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as legions of rappers provide the misogynistic background music.

Copyright, Manchester Union Leader, 2007