Is Hillary Demoting Her Own Role As First Lady?

Hillary Clinton seems to have just shot herself in the foot. Her campaign has so far relied on a delicate balancing act. She must assure Americans that she is not Bill, while not turning away voters who just want to see Bill back in the White House. In addition, she must convince doubters that she is more experienced than just spending a few years as a senator. She has done this by talking about her time as First Lady as though it was a full on staff position in the executive branch. This balancing act is getting tougher and tougher for her to maintain. Read more

RIAA: Saving CDs To Computer Is Illegal

Copyright law was never intended to prop dieing business models. It was designed to promote societal advancement. The RIAA doesn’t understand that. The Washington Post has an article which tells of a man being sued for ripping songs from CDs he purchased to his computer for personal use only. They claim he needs to buy another copy of the song to use it on his computer.

Now, in an unusual case in which an Arizona recipient of an RIAA letter has fought back in court rather than write a check to avoid hefty legal fees, the industry is taking its argument against music sharing one step further: In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

The industry’s lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are “unauthorized copies” of copyrighted recordings.

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Edwards Would Continue The Presidential Dynasty

Bill Clinton was one of the best presidents of all time. Conservatives would argue Reagan was the best modern president. And both groups can agree on one thing, they’d love to see their choice candidates views propelled. But to endanger the American Democracy where each group gets to see their favorite man (or woman) in charge is a scary proposition.
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Ron Paul: Blind As Bartimaeus To Evolution

Until today, I have supported Ron Paul. Although he was never my first choice for president, I would have been at least content with him in office. Then I went on Digg.com today and saw a video that worries me. In this video, he says “It’s a theory. The theory of evolution, and I don’t accept it.”

The reason that I have defended Congressman Paul in the past is because I believed that even though I disagreed with a lot of his views, he was educated and all of his views were genuine and well thought out. I would have loved to see him as the republican presidential nominee, and I would have preferred him as president over certain democrats. Unfortunately, I am realizing that I may have been duped.

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The only thing we have to fear is…

Franklin Roosevelt said in his First Inaugural Address, during the thick of the Great Depression, to a frightened, uncertain, and despairing population: “Firstly, I would like to assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is… fear itself.” Roosevelt, arguably one of the greatest Presidents of these united states, gave new hope and comfort to the down-trodden population with his first address to the American people. And, ultimately, he would assuage the people’s fears altogether by lifting them out of the terrible Depression. 

In 1933 and the years following Roosevelt’s Inauguration, the leaders of yesteryear triumphed over the problems facing them. We must face many new challenges in this new millennium, and it seems to me that we have something new that should be feared above all. Read more

Did Giuliani Suffer a Stroke?

Over the last week Giuliani suffered a “severe headache” and had his flight return to St Louis and was rushed to the hospital. Giuliani has so far been very quiet on this issue, as he has on many others. But why be so secretive about his health? He could tie it into some excuse about why headaches are much more fatal in the “subsidized” European health system.

Here’s what the New York Times says:

Rudolph W. Giuliani on Saturday provided the most detailed account yet of the health scare that led to his recent hospitalization, saying that he had suffered a “terrible headache” but had not blacked out, and that his doctor would update his health condition “after Christmas.”

There seems to be absolutely no reason to be so secretive unless he is afraid the diagnosis would hurt him on the trail. His opponents would make a big deal about being “unfit for leadership” if he suffered a stroke. They’d argue that he might suffer more strokes in the White House, and then he’d have to be removed because a president with a severe stroke would undeniably be unable to manage the nation.

Time to End Religiously Influenced Voting

Christmas is coming up, so what better time to talk about religion in politics?

Religion has become a central issue in American politics over the past decades. Republicans are practically required to get support from organizations like the Christian Coalition. Where I reside in the United Kingdom though, we do things a bit differently.

Former Prime Minister and President Bush’s lapdog Tony Blair officially converted to Catholicism this week, but the most of the time that he was actually in office as Prime Minister, he never commented on his religious views. Imagine if our next president spent their entire campaign and time in office without commenting on their religious views. Well, there wouldn’t be any time in office, because he or she wouldn’t be elected.

Most of Europe doesn’t really care about a politician’s belief or disbelief in a religion. What is so different about America?

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Expect the Unexpected

The 2008 Campaign season kicked off obscenely early, and from the very beginning everyone thought they knew how it would pan out. Rudy and McCain would duke it out for the Republican nomination, and Hillary would have a cakewalk to the Dem nod, right? Read more

Youth Activism & Involvement - From a Youth’s Perspective

Cross-Posted at Dailykos

I’m a high school student in Maryland, and I think that youth activism really needs to be addressed. Given all the attention being paid to young voters and encouraging young people to get involved in civics, I think its time that perhaps instead of adults thinking about how best to reach youth, an actual youth provide his opinion. We need to make some serious improvements.

Please allow me to preface this diary with a short introduction. I am a high school sophomore at a magnet high school in Greenbelt, MD, and very interested & involved in politics. I am also the Prince George’s County Delegate and Co-Chairman of the Governor’s Maryland Youth Council, essentially the only Youth Advisory group that is state-government sanctioned. Read more

Why Polls Cause Caucus Anxiety

These past few weeks we’ve heard the pundits, pollsters, and campaign managers running their mouths on which candidate will win the Iowa caucus, and who will place. Everyone’s an expert is usually how the stories go. The fluctuating poll numbers each seemingly showing a new leader everyday, usually by a percentage of no more than 5 points, can be considered, and are, useless. They never have told us who will will on the actual day of caucusing. They’re better at predicting who will lose. These contradictory polls are just a way for the candidates and their campaigns to keep from self destructing in the agony and anxiety over the upcoming caucus. Without them, the candidates would go crazy.
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GOP Anti Immigration Stance Harming Party

One day white people will be a minority. And just like blacks remember the advances for civil rights made under the Kennedy/LBJ administration, Hispanics will remember Republicans vilified them in the ‘06, ‘07 and ‘08 elections. With a new poll from Pew Research showing Latinos prefer Democrats to Republicans by 2:1 spells bad news for the GOP. Read more

Why Hillary Clinton should be the next President

These past few months I’ve been undecided on all Democratic presidential candidates. Unlike a lot of Democrats, this was not because I didn’t like any of them, but because I liked them all. After long deliberation and thoughtful consideration to all of the Democratic presidential candidates, I strongly believe that Hillary Clinton should be the next president of the United States. Hillary’s years of activism and public service has made her a strongly qualified candidate for the presidency.

I’ve seen people just flat out declare that they don’t like Hillary. Then when you ask these people why, they have absolutely no idea why they dislike her so much. This is the only problem Hillary will face in the general election. But when Hillary has a chance to step out onto the national stage, not being the one on Bill’s side, they will see what her core supporters see. A person that has what it takes to be a strong leader in this time of turmoil and important decisions to be made that will affect our future as youths of America.

When the American people look for candidates to support in an election, they choose the one who they agree with on most or all issues. Not only do I agree with Hillary’s stances on the issues, but I trust her.

If we really want change, how about we put an experienced, thoughtful, woman in the White House. Hillary will end the war, will stop global warming, will provide America with national healthcare, and she will make America a better place to live. But she can’t do these things without all of our help. So if Hillary does get the nomination, I’m asking all you Obama fans, Gravel fans, John Edwards fans, Kucinich fans, Joe Biden fans, Richardson fans, Dodd fans, and everyone to support Hillary because she will always make the right decision, and do what is best for America.

Fri. December 7th Live Podcast: Mike Connery Interview

We interview Mike Connery of FutureMajority.com as he discusses his new book, “Youth to Power” about progressive youth politics.

Co-hosted by Dan Solis and Mike Rushmore.

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Why Joe Biden should be the next President

Among those in the current field of Democrats vying to become the next President of the United States are:

1. Barack Obama, a rising star in the party renowned for his inspiring rags-to-riches story and ability to electrify audiences all over the country with his charisma and oratorical prowess.
2. Hillary Clinton, a tough-talking former first lady who happens to be a capable politician in her own right.
3. John Edwards, a popular former senator who has done a good job labeling himself the populist candidate in the race whilst fiercely going after his two fellow poll leaders. His pro-labor, pro-universal health care views make him appealing to a large number of Democrats.

These 3 candidates alone provide most Democrats the opportunity to vote for someone whose views are very similar, if not in direct lockstep with their own. While it’s great that we have a diverse field, a huge drawback is that we as voters sometimes forget or ignore, with help from our media, that we have 4 more choices who are possibly every bit as, if not more, qualified and able to be President. These choices are Bill Richardson, Joseph Biden, Christopher Dodd, and Dennis Kucinich. Read more