Why No Katrina Stories From Iowa?
Jun 13, 2008 Political
There is terrible flooding in Cedar Rapids Iowa and Des Moines is under a voluntary evacuation order as rivers swell and rise to the tops of levees. Cedar Rapids is under water and 15 people have died as a result of the flooding. Of course this story has been in the news but I can’t help but wondering where all the network trailers are. I can’t help wondering where FEMA is and where are all the protesters demonstrating against perceived government inaction on this one?
Also, where are all the dead bodies floating around while hoodlums roam the streets shooting at people and looting stores?
What is it about this storm that is at least as bad, if not worse, than Katrina that has left us without stories of devastation caused by the government’s failure to swoop in and help people? Why don’t we have music stars on TV holding a telethon to raise money while they proclaim that George Bush hates white people?
Why is it that teen aged boys, members of the Boy Scouts, were able to respond immediately to render first aid to the injured and dig out those trapped in the rubble when adults in New Orleans seemed incapable of helping themselves?
Perhaps this goes back to the thoughts I had about dependence on government. Those in New Orleans have ridden the back of government programs for so long they did not know how to care for themselves. The leadership they needed from state and local politicians was non existent with the governor crying and the mayor lying in the fetal position sucking his thumb on the upper floors of a hotel. The people were ill prepared because their leadership was ill prepared.
Certainly there was blame at the federal level and things could have run more smoothly but there is no battalion of federal employees traipsing around Iowa and they seem to be surviving.
It all comes down to people taking responsibility for one’s own life and helping others in need.
My prayers are with those folks in Iowa affected by this terrible storm. Thanks goodness they had the ability to fend for themselves or the death toll could have been much higher.
Tags: cedar rapids, fema, floods, iowa, katrina, new orleans
Let Me Answer for Hillary
Jan 6, 2008 Political
Hillary Clinton told New Hampshire voters that their primary process would be more representative than the Iowa caucus. Clinton said that people who had to work or were out of the state would not be disenfranchised. The article indicates that candidates usually praise the grassroots of the Iowa caucus. Hilary was praising it prior to getting her hat handed to her in the caucus process. She came in third so the process, not the candidate must be flawed.
Nevada has a caucus coming up and its rules are the very same as those in Iowa. The Clinton campaign was asked if its candidate felt the same way about Nevada:
“No. Sen. Clinton is absolutely committed to the Nevada caucus and we expect to do well,” said Clinton campaign spokeswoman Hilarie Grey in an e-mail.
Grey did not respond to requests to explain why Nevada escapes Clinton’s critique. RGJ.com
Of course the campaign did not respond to explain because once again the smartest woman in the world stuck her foot in her mouth. Stevie Wonder can see why she did not answer but let me go ahead and answer for Hillary and her campaign.
The reason that Nevada escapes the criticism that she had for Iowa is that Nevada has not voted (or caucused) yet. Hillary still needs them and until the voting is over there she will heap praise upon them much as she did in Iowa.
She was full of praise for them and their process and after she lost she talked about how the system disenfranchises voters. I do not disagree with that but I have held that opinion all along and have mentioned it a few times. Hillary had two different positions. In reality, she pandered to the Iowans until she lost and then she left and talked badly about their process. However, since Nevada has not voted she refuses to have the same criticisms. She is a hypocrite and for the world’s smartest woman she sure is stupid. Remember, to Hillary only the unthinking in Iowa voted for Obama.
Remember, Hillary has use for anything only so long as it can benefit her. The minute it loses value to her it is worthless in her mind. Keep this in mind when you are voting. Make her as worthless as she really is by voting for any other candidate.
Tags: Hillary, iowa, lashing out, pandering
Clinton Campaign: Unthinking Iowans Picked Obama
Jan 4, 2008 Political
This is the message out of the Clinton camp today as Hillary suffered a stinging defeat in Iowa. The caucuses were held yesterday and on the Democratic side it was Obama, Edwards and then Clinton. The Republicans selected Huckabee, Romney and Thompson as their win, place and show horses. Interestingly, Ron Paul garnered 10% of the vote, more than Giuliani (3%).
Today has to be a bad day for both Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney. Both spent a fortune in Iowa and did not do as well as they had hoped or expected. Clinton, who was supposed to be the shoe in for the Democrats was smacked hard by an upstart Senator named Obama who handed her a 9 point loss. Clinton’s people have a few problems. When this all started she was inevitable and then people actually got to see her and meet her and she lost. First she had experience and when that was not working it was decided that Hillary needed a make over. Her campaign needed to get her out and let America see who she really is. Evidently, at least in Iowa, they did not like what they saw. Her campaign blames this on unthinking voters:
“Everyone underestimated this conflagration,†said a former Clinton administration official.
“If people think he’s electable, they’ll vote with their hearts and not their minds.†The Politico
This statement just shows the arrogance of anything Clinton. Even this defeat was not her fault because people did not vote with their heads, they voted with their hearts. To me this says, if you had brains you would have voted for Hillary. Hillary has vowed to push on and she should. One state is not the end for her because she has a huge organization and lots of money. A one state loss means the end for candidates who have little money even if they are most experienced. Such was the case with Dodd and Biden who both threw in the towel last night.
The remarks of the Clinton campaign show how much disdain they have for the American people. They believe that only thinking people will select Clinton and any other pick is an event that did not involve a thought process. I would make the argument that voting for any Democrat involves no thought process but with regard to this situation, the Clinton campaign remark shows contempt for the American electorate.
People from every state should remember that if they vote for someone other than Hillary they are unthinking rubes who are getting in the way of Hillary’s birthright. You people, and you know who you are, are not worthy of the Queen…But please vote for her, K?
“We’re going to keep pushing as hard as we can,” she said, with former President Bill Clinton and their daughter Chelsea at her side. “I am so ready for the rest of this campaign and I am so ready to lead.” Breitbart
It is too bad that they could not be gracious losers and move on to the next contest. Instead they chose to take a swipe at the people who get to decide in this process. therein lies the problem. Clinton does not believe you should have a choice. Her platform involves a number of things that people or companies have no choice in. She will mandate any number of things involving our lives, if only she can win the big prize.
Remember America, she cannot mandate what you do and how you do it unless you give her a mandate by voting for her.
Think about it…
Others with similar items:
Nuke’s, Outside the Beltway, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Allie is Wired, Adam’s Blog, Shadowscope, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Cao’s Blog, and Wolf Pangloss, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
Tags: caucus, Clinton, dumb people, iowa, loser, Obama, ron paul
Obama’s Change Politics as Usual
Jan 3, 2008 Political
The Iowa caucus process is archaic and cumbersome not to mention that it disenfranchises people who are unable to make it to the caucus sites. This might be an attempt to only have those who are serious be part of the process but it disenfranchises those who cannot leave their lives for a few hours to be part of the process. Since absentee ballots are not allowed members of the military, who protect the freedom to vote, are excluded from the process.
The caucus process involves a series of votes and candidates who do not carry at least 15% of the votes are knocked out of the process and their supporters may then go to another candidate. This process continues until the winner is selected. This process also involves some politicking as demonstrated this week when Dennis Kucinich told his supporters to support B. Hussein Obama if he [Kucinich] should fail to obtain the requisite 15%. This was an open request and does not appear to have been requested by Obama.
The other kind of politics are the back room deals that have candidates swapping votes in precincts where they lack support for votes in precincts where a person has overwhelming support. It is alleged that Senator Joe Biden has worked a deal with Obama to throw support his way in areas where Biden lacks the 15% and where it might be close for Obama in return for Obama sending votes Biden’s way in areas where Obama has a huge advantage. The same kind of deal is reported to have taken place between Governor Bill Richardson and Obama. I could have sworn Richardson was pandering to Clinton so he could be selected as her VP.
These kinds of back room deals serve many purposes. In this case it might mean that Hillary Clinton, the national front-runner, would get knocked down quite a few pegs and begin the rapid demise of her campaign. If Obama wins and Edwards and Hillary place much lower or with quite a few less votes then Obama might get a big surge in New Hampshire and nationally. This might also help the others who will most likely not be around by the time super Tuesday comes because a good showing will garner donations of cash to pay off campaign debt. These kind of deals also forge later alliances when a newly elected president, say Obama, needs to fill his cabinet.
This is politics as usual and it is not uncommon in a Iowa’s unusual caucus process. The problem is, it is politics as usual and Obama is involved in it. B. Hussein Obama has sold himself as the candidate of change. He claims that he is not a DC insider and has not lived Washington politics like his rivals, chiefly Hillary Clinton. He has told us that we cannot accomplish change by putting the same old people in the positions of leadership. It is his take on the definition of insanity; continually doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
For a man who claims to be a different kind of politician, one who is not there to play politics as usual, it seems he is doing just that. Obama is working the back room deals like a seasoned DC insider and he is playing politics as usual. This is contrary to everything he says he stands for and it shows him to be no different than the rest of the politicians in the field. I wonder what Obama would say if all the deals were going in favor of Clinton. Would he say that she is playing the same old politics?
B. Hussein Obama is a fresh face in the crowd of has beens and 60s retreads from the Democratic Party and he is a symbol of hope for a lot of members of that party but he is no champion of change from politics as usual.
In reality he is another politician who will say and do what it takes to get elected, principles be damned.
For clarity, I realize these are allegations but they are all denying it. A sure sign that a politician is doing something is when he denies it.
Sources:
Washington Post
The New York Times
The Page [Time]
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Right Pundits, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Adam’s Blog, Right Truth, Shadowscope, The Amboy Times, Conservative Cat, Adeline and Hazel, Faultline USA, Allie is Wired, Woman Honor Thyself, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Pirate’s Cove, Celebrity Smack, The Pink Flamingo, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, and
Tags: biden, caucus, Clinton, iowa, Obama, richardson, second tier