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Bye, Hill. Hello John?

hill21.jpgHillary Clinton should give up. She has lost. As predicted on this website before she got into the situation she’s in now, she cannot win the nomination without causing an implosion of the Democratic Party. The ‘Nuttyroots’ have hijacked the party; they are die-hard Obama fans, if only because most of the nutters are young and completely blinded by their love for Obama. Never mind that he’s just as much a calculating pol as is Hillary. (Christopher Hitchens has a fantastic article about that here.)

But now there’s another problem for the Democratic Party. Hillary’s die-hard supporters won’t jump over to Obama’s ship that easily, either. The Clinton campaign has succeeded in showing who the True Barack Obama is: a calculating politician. Doh. Those who believe that any politician can get to where Obama is now without culling dozens on the political battlefield need to go back to school.

And because of that, John McCain will win. Unless Hillary withdraws now.

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Stupid American Voter

For all the criticism levelled at Team Clinton for her so-called harsh treatment of Team Obama, the latter should be happy and thankful for it.

Why?

Because Team Obama can learn a thing or two from the attacks, knowledge it will need during the general election.

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Greg Palast on amateurs Clinton & Obama

“Amateur Hour in Blue

We can trust Correa to keep the peace South of the Border. But can we trust our Presidents-to-be?

The current man in the Oval Office, George Bush, simply can’t help himself: an outlaw invasion by a right-wing death-squad promoter is just fine with him.

But guess who couldn’t wait to parrot the Bush line? Hillary Clinton, still explaining that her vote to invade Iraq was not a vote to invade Iraq, issued a statement nearly identical to Bush’s, blessing the invasion of Ecuador as Colombia’s “right to defend itself.” And she added, “Hugo Chávez must stop these provoking actions.” Huh?

And then Obama weighed in, too.

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The Case Against Barack Obama UPDATED

obamabarack.jpgBarack Obama is destined to be the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party. The young (46) Senator for Illinois has a number of advantages which he can exploit to the fullest. However, there are also two giant negatives that could pose severe problems for him during the general election — an election which will be just as closely fought as 2000 and 2004.

 

UPDATE: And now he’s starting to piss off the press corps.

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The Case Against McCain

mccain.jpgJohn McCain is destined to be the next nominee for the presidency on behalf of the Republican Party. Many Republicans don’t agree with him leading the pack, but votes are votes and all things being equal, McCain has decisively won most of the states during the Republican primary. And there are a number of traits and advantages that will help McCain in his fight against Barack Obama, or Hillary Clinton. But there is also a very strong case against McCain; like Clinton, he carries a lot of negatives. And no, his age isn’t one of them.

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Make no mistake: it’s going to be just as close this time around

uselections1.JPG
There are those on the Democratic side of US politics at the moment who firmly believe that they will easily win the White House come November. They should think again and above all, learn from history.

Because that’s exactly what they thought in 2000, and once again in 2004. And with John McCain destined to become the Republican nominee for the presidency, the Democrats had better rethink their optimism and start digging some trenches. Because like in 1992, 2000 and 2004, it’s going to be close hand-to-hand combat to finish with a razor-thin margin on November 4 of this year.

The Clintons and the DNC’s leadership know it; the RNC smells it. Question is, does Obama know it?

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Prediction: she’s going to lose part II

The prediction still stands. It’s over. And yes, this had a LOT to do with it. (But then again: I basically wrote that story already on January 28.)

The media folks simply wanted a fresh body to suck on.

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Joran van der Sloot to remain free part II

joran.JPGYou read it here first: Joran van der Sloot will remain a free man. That article was based on mere analysis but now the expectation has become reality: a judge on Aruba has refused to allow the Prosecution Office (PO) to re-arrest Van der Sloot. The judge ruled that the man, who ‘confessed’ that he disposed of the body of Natalee Holloway after she died, was arrested twice before, without the PO being able to tag him with the murder or disappearance of Holloway. The judge didn’t want Van der Sloot arrested again; he deems the new “evidence” – a confession from Van der Sloot caught on camera while he was smoking drugs – not enough.

And that creates a problem. Could it be that the judge is seeing the same problems as written in my article? Unfortunately for the Holloway family, the man who apparently could not care less about what happens to other people (much less the girl he wanted to have sex with) will never be held accountable for his actions. Except by the public, of course. More than 7 million people in the Netherlands – that’s almost half the country – watched the TV-show by crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, in which Van der Sloot ‘confessed’. Other TV-shows, newspapers, magazines, the entire media worked the country into a frenzy before the show, aired yesterday. It may turn out to have been much ado about nothing.

Update: the former head of police on the island of Aruba, who acted as chief investigator in the Holloway case, just now said that he doesn’t believe that Van der Sloot will ever be arrested again until more evidence pops up. OK, so that’s that; we’ve had the story about the dead blonde us whites can all identify with. Can we now please focus on issues that I think really matter?

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Prediction: she’s going to lose.

angryhillthumbnail.jpgHillary Clinton is going to lose the nomination battle. If not the delegates, then most certainly the Democratic ‘hearts and minds’. Should she win the battle, it will be because what Obama did and got was too little, too late. But once the Democratic convention comes rolling along in 6 months, most Dems won’t want her to lead the party into battle with the Republicans — even if she’s got most delegates. However, it may not even come to that; Obama is getting a LOT of traction as his momentum keeps building, and he just might be able to tip the scale. Clinton may win New York, but if Obama wins California, then that will be the ‘watershed moment’ Team Clinton won’t be able to explain away, much less spin. Then it will be over.

And guess what? Zogby et al are already polling an Obama win in California.

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Joran van der Sloot to remain free

Joran van der Sloot, the alleged ‘killer’ of Natalee Holloway, is going to remain a free man. Any Dutch lawyer will destroy the ‘case’ any prosecutor will try to bring to a court following the TV-show of Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries.

First, there’s still no body.

Second, while making his repeated ‘confessions’ in a car and under constant secret camera surveillance (which is already problematic under Dutch law – will a court accept the video?), Mr. Van der Sloot was constantly smoking weed. Any lawyer worth his salt will argue that Mr. Van der Sloot was under the influence of drugs at the time of his ‘ ‘confession sessions’ and that he therefore cannot be held accountable for his actions or words. Van der Sloot already went on live television two days before the show in which his ‘confessions’ were aired to state that what he said wasn’t the truth; that he was exaggerating, and that the stories he told were made up.

Third, there is no independent source or witness to back up Joran’s ‘confession’. Van der Sloot says that he had Natalee Holloway disposed of by a friend, a fisherman, who took the lifeless body of the girl to sea after she died. However, at no time during his show does Mr. De Vries produce this ‘friend’, named ‘Daury’ by Van der Sloot. This raises questions. Does this man exist? If so, why didn’t De Vries find him? Or perhaps he didn’t exist, which should work out fine for Mr. Van der Sloot’s lawyer. His argument, that Joran was spaced-out on dope and talking crap every time he was smoking weed in the car, will only gain more traction if this ‘Daury’ doesn’t show up to back up Joran’s ‘confession’.

Fourth, even if Joran’s confession is accepted by the court, then the court will still have to take his word for it that she was already dead before he / his (imaginary?) friend let her slip into the sea. All that he can then be accused of is gross neglicence and letting disappear a dead body (under Dutch law). And not even that; he would be an accomplice, as he got aided by someone else. (If this is true, of course.) If a court accepts his confessions (remember the drugs-argument!) about what happened, then it will also have to accept his argument that she died in his arms – but that he did not intentionally kill her.

As for the man’s personality: yes, he certainly needs to visit a shrink or two, and that for a long, looong time. But a court still will not look at his personality, but at the mere facts.