Like George W. Bush (running for the Republican nomination) in 2000, it is clear that HILLARY CLINTON thinks SHE OWNS the Democratic nomination for 2008, as her campaign staff's fierce blast at Hollywood producer and "liberal Democrat" fundraiser David Geffen illustrates.
For SIX LONG YEARS Democratic voters, activists, supporters, and donors have been looking for SOMEONE to LEAD THE FIGHT against the errors, arrogance, corruption, and outright CRIMES of the Bush White House - including TORTURE, ILLEGAL SPYING, MASSIVE Iraq war and post-Katrina reconstruction FRAUD, and even the ILLEGAL OUTING of a CIA agent... (and PERJURY and OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE to bury and whitewash that case)... among many other such cases of White House criminality and corruption - and when she finally gets the microphone of national attention for a national race after securing her senate re-election, Hillary wants to talk about.... BARAK OBAMA's CAMPAIGN DONORS, as if THEY should APOLOGIZE for their vocal criticisms of Hillary's INSIDE-the-BELTWAY ARROGANCE and AWOL LEADERSHIP re all the above Bush White House criminal conduct!
THANKS for VERY LITTLE, Hillary; you CAN'T LEAD a DEMOCRATIC FILIBUSTER (threat to SHUT DOWN THE US CONGRESS) against all those gross abuses of the Bush White House, BUT YOU WILL STAND SILENT as the Rethuglicans FILIBUSTER even DISCUSSION of the Iraq war mismanagement - and INSTEAD you try to SILENCE YOUR CRITICS!
How very democratic (NOT!) of the Senator from New York.
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Hell, Hillary APES George W. Bush in NOT NOTICING the Iraq war wounded veterans WAREHOUSED in a cockroach infested hotel, "Building 18" of the Walter Reed Army Medical complex... right there a few blocks away from the Capitol!
IT's NOT like the Senator would use her MEDIA ATTENTION to VISIT those wounded, warehoused soldiers and DEMAND that President Bush and the Rethuglican Party DO BETTER by our wounded and traumatized veterans... she has MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO, raising million dollar donor checks to RAM her nomination down Democratic throats.
MESSAGE to Hillary and the DLC "Democrats": IF you aren't BLASTING the CORRPTION, INCOMPETENCE, FRAUD, DECEIT, and national-security debilitating LIES of Mr. Bush's administration, like YESTERDAY, then you are FRUSTRATING THE HELL OUT OF US demcoratic voters.
Hillary looks to REPEAT the gross errors of the Gore and Kerry campaigns: KID-GLOVE treatment of the record of George W. Bush, in an effort to woo "muddled middle" voters, who will put "WE SUPPORT THE TROOPS!" $3 made-in-China bumper stickers on their cars, but would rather hear about dead bimbo millionaire blondes than about returning COMBAT VETERANS, warehoused in despicable conditions and forced to pay for their own rehab and medical care.
HOW PATHETIC! from someone who PRESUMES to have the courage to lead all of America....
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Mike Stark at Huffington Post reminds us: Hillary would rather COZY UP TO RUPERT MURDOCH, and possibly even Clinton nemesis RICHARD MELLON SCAIFE, than CONFRONT the Bush-Cheney White House....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-stark/hillary-and-bill-clinto_b_41823.html
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Clinton, Obama, come out swinging
Fundraiser's barbs spark war of words
By Mike Dorning and Jill Zuckman
Tribune national correspondents
Published February 22, 2007
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-070221obama-spat,1,5983448.story?coll=chi-news-hed
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- One day after Sen. Barack Obama made a glittery statement with a Hollywood fundraiser that brought in an impressive $1.3 million, the top two Democratic presidential contenders went after each other in the first big food fight of the 2008 presidential election.
It started when David Geffen slammed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York in remarks published Wednesday morning, accusing the presidential candidate of lying with "such ease" compared to other politicians, dismissing her husband, former President Bill Clinton, as "reckless," and blasting the Clinton "machine." Geffen, a powerful Hollywood producer and executive, was once a major Clinton supporter but has switched to Obama and was a host of Tuesday's bash.
The Clinton campaign, perhaps stung by Obama's successful incursion into Hollywood, which at one time was unchallenged Clinton country, hit back hard, saying Geffen's comments contrasted poorly with the Illinois senator's self-promotion as a new breed of politician, unifying and optimistic.
"If Sen. Obama is indeed sincere about his repeated claims to change the tone of our politics, he should immediately denounce these remarks, remove Mr. Geffen from his campaign and return his money," said Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson. "While Democrats should engage in a vigorous debate on the issues, there is no place in our party or our politics for the kind of personal insults made by Sen. Obama's principal fundraiser."
The Clintons have long been known for skilled, aggressive political infighting, and Geffen's comments provided a way for the Clinton campaign to test how Obama, relatively new to the national stage, would take a punch. It also was the first of what will no doubt be many attempts by rivals to knock the halo off Obama's head.
The Obama camp—eager to show that it knew how to handle criticism and could stand up to an experienced political warrior like Clinton—issued a biting statement.
"We aren't going to get in the middle of a disagreement between the Clintons and someone who was once one of their biggest supporters," said Obama communications director Robert Gibbs. "It is ironic that the Clintons had no problem with David Geffen when he was raising them $18 million and sleeping at their invitation in the Lincoln bedroom."
Obama also took the opportunity to go on offense, suggesting that Clinton was being hypocritical, since she had not disavowed the recent comments of South Carolina state Sen. Robert Ford. Ford, who has endorsed Clinton, said last week that if Obama were the Democratic nominee, "Every Democrat running on that ticket next year would lose, because he's black and he's top of the ticket. We'd lose the House and the Senate and the governors and everything."
Gibbs said Wednesday that it is "ironic" that Clinton has praised Ford and accepted his support.
If both candidates had reasons for engaging in what might seem like a minor squabble, the spectacle of Clinton and Obama duking it out so early in the campaign was nonetheless striking. It was the sort of rat-a-tat-tat political spat that usually breaks out in the snowy cold of New Hampshire in the critical days before the nation's first presidential primary, rather than 11 months before that contest and almost two years before the 2008 election.
Geffen interview sparked spat
What ignited the battle of words was an interview with Geffen in Wednesday's New York Times by columnist Maureen Dowd, in which Geffen portrayed himself as disenchanted with both Clintons, their failure to always stand firm on principle and their style of political battle. "Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it's troubling," he said.
He called Bill Clinton "a reckless guy" who "gave his enemies a lot of ammunition to hurt him and to distract the country." Geffen slammed Hillary Clinton for refusing to apologize for her vote to authorize the Iraq war. "It's not a very big thing to say, 'I made a mistake' on the war, and typical of Hillary Clinton that she can't," Geffen said.
Asked if Obama would be able to stand up to the Clinton machine, Geffen said, "I hope so, because that machine is going to be very unpleasant and unattractive and effective."
This rhetorical eruption came one day after Geffen—along with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, his partners in DreamWorks SKG—hosted a $2,300-per-person fundraiser for Obama at the Beverly Hilton, site of the glitzy Golden Globe Awards.
There was no red carpet, but stars of the entertainment world showed up in packs. Flashes popped in the hotel lobby as tourists spotted stars like Jennifer Aniston. She walked past purposefully, though she tossed her hair, turned and smiled when a fan with a digital camera yelled her name.
An all-star cast
Actors Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Morgan Freeman, and Christine Lahti also showed up. Singers Jackson Browne and the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines were there. And so were producers Norman Lear, Ron Howard, Lawrence Bender, producer of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," and J.J. Abrams. The heads of several major studios also attended.
Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington bought tickets but did not show up.
Despite the star power, the event was a low-key affair. No cameras were permitted inside the fundraiser, which drew 300 guests and raised about $1.3 million, according to Katzenberg. Hotel security guards ejected camera crews and ushered out several reporters who had not registered as guests, explaining that they were acting on instructions from the organizers.
