Is She a Trojan Rabbit?

by Maureen Dowd, NY Times Op-Ed Columnist
Washington, May 11, 2008

Now Barack Obama faces a true dilemma: how best to punish Hillary Clinton.

After 15 months of fighting her off, as she veered wildly from bully to victim, as she brandished any ice pick at hand, whether racial, sexual, mathematical or marital (in the form of her Vesuvian husband), Obama must decide the most efficacious means of doing to Hillary what she has been trying to do to him: putting her in her place.

Her last resort is to continue to press the “Psssst — he’s a black man” tactic. She insisted to USAToday, after the North Carolina and Indiana slide, that she has a broader base, citing an Associated Press article “that found how Senator Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.”

So how does Obama repay Hillary for running a campaign designed both to unman him and brand him as an unelectable black? Is the most ingenious way to turn the screw by not choosing her as his running mate, or by choosing her?

It is, verily, a sticky wicket.

One top Hillary supporter who is black warns that, despite the giddy dreams of some punch-drunk Democrats, a fusion ticket could backfire because “Americans can’t handle too much change at once.”

But should Obama ignore that caution and appease Hillary fans by putting her on the ticket?

As president, he could announce that, because Dick Cheney abused the powers of his office so grievously, taking the title “Vice” literally, he intends to shrink the vice presidency back to its “bucket of warm spit” Constitutional prerogatives — presiding over the Senate and taking over if the president goes under anesthesia.

He might also neglect to give Bill (whose acronym would be SLOTUS, Second Lad of the United States) full White House access.

Aside from the delight Bill would get from living at the Naval Observatory and having a huge telescope to window-peep with, there wouldn’t be much joy in Hillaryland.

The lady-in-waiting would be surrounded by Obama disciples who disdained her for fighting dirty. And she would be miserable holding up the train of the young prince who usurped her dream, derailing the post-nup she had with Bill to trade places.

As de facto veep for Bill, she had enough leverage over him, due to his shenanigans, to co-opt huge chunks of policy and personnel decisions.

But in a return engagement with Obama at the top, could she really wake up every day in the back seat and wish him well, or would she just be plotting? (Fourteen vice presidents have ascended, after all.) Wouldn’t she be, in Monty Python parlance, the Trojan Rabbit behind the gates?

On a positive note, maybe she could bring back all that stuff she pilfered on her way out.

Obama’s other option, laid out by Teddy Kennedy on Friday, is to go with someone who wouldn’t be a big dark cloud over his sunshiny new politics.

Teddy told Bloomberg’s Al Hunt that Obama should choose a partner “in tune with his appeal for the nobler aspirations of the American people.”

That would be smart for another reason: Hillary has a strange, unnerving effect on Obama, and whenever he is around her, he’s unable to do his best. Probably, it’s because she’s furious, always shaking his hand off her arm, ignoring him, giving him the evil eye and emasculating him, and the Golden One is not used to such rough treatment.

In the last few days, as Hillary has deflated and Obama and the Democrats have dashed for daylight, he has been more like his old self, flashing his all-is-right-with-the-world smile on the cover of Time, joshing and charming Democrats and Republicans as he wooed superdelegates on the House floor, taking on James Carville for insulting his manhood.

“James Carville is well known for spouting off his mouth without always knowing what he’s talking about,” he told Terry Moran on “Nightline.”

Obama will never be at his best around Hillary; she drains him of his magical powers. She’s Jane Jinx to him. It’s a similar syndrome to the one Katharine Hepburn’s star athlete and her supercilious fiancé have in “Pat and Mike.”

The fiancé is always belittling Hepburn, so whenever he’s in the stands, her tennis and golf go kerflooey. Finally, her manager, played by Spencer Tracy, asks the fiancé to stay away from big matches, explaining, “You are the wrong jockey for this chick.”

“You know, except when you’re around, we got a very valuable piece of property here,” he says, later adding, “When you’re around, she’s no good, she’s dead, see?”

The best way Obama can punish Hillary is to reward himself. He’s no good around her, see?

Barack Obama In Philadelphia - THE Message

Because it deserves to be heard again...It is NOT business as usual. A moving speech, and worth the listen.

House Republican blasts Obama as "that boy"

From The War Room, Salon.com
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 08:53 EDT

Far-right efforts to define Barack Obama as The Other have been relatively subtle over the last couple of months. A little emphasis on Obama's middle name here, a little talk about flag lapel pins there. Everyone knew what was coming, but could also tell the Republican efforts hadn't started in earnest.

It appears conservatives are starting to forgo the subtleties.


U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis, a Hebron Republican, compared Obama and his message for change similar to a "snake oil salesman" [at a Northern Kentucky Lincoln Day dinner].

He said in his remarks at the GOP dinner that he also recently participated in a "highly classified, national security simulation" with Obama.

"I'm going to tell you something: That boy's finger does not need to be on the button," Davis said. "He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country."


According to news accounts, Davis' comments were "met by laughter and applause" with his Kentucky Republican audience.

Once reporters started calling Davis' office seeking comment, the conservative Republican lawmaker issued a written apology to Obama, saying, "[M]y poor choice of words is regrettable and was in no way meant to impugn you or your integrity. I offer my sincere apology to you and ask for your forgiveness."

Davis' remarks are so uniquely stupid, it's hard to know where to start. First, obviously, is "that boy." The racial element of the phrase is both obvious and ugly. It's not as if Davis is Obama's elder -- the senator is just three years younger than the Kentucky congressman.

Second, is the apology itself. Davis didn't mean to "impugn" Obama or his "integrity." That's a rather odd what to respond. The problem isn't that he attacked Obama's integrity -- Republicans do that all the time -- it's that he called a grown black man a "boy."

Third, I'm curious about this "highly classified, national security simulation" Davis claims to have "recently" completed with Obama. If the simulation is "highly classified," why is Davis talking about it in front of hundreds of people? Did the simulation actually happen, or is Davis making it up?

― Steve Benen

McCain gets donuts; Obama gets likened to a terrorist

Salon: The War Room
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 17:14 EDT

We've known for a while that so many political reporters fawn over John McCain that the media is often considered "McCain's base," but Dana Milbank's latest piece suggests news outlets are anxious to solidify the relationship.

Appearing before the nation's newspaper editors yesterday, AP chairman Dean Singleton pressed Barack Obama on whether he would send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, where "Obama bin Laden is still at large." McCain's treatment was slightly different.


McCain's moderators, the AP's Ron Fournier and Liz Sidoti, greeted McCain with a box of Dunkin' Donuts. "We spend quite a bit of time with you on the back of the Straight Talk Express asking you questions, and what we've decided to do today was invite everyone else along on the ride," Sidoti explained. "We even brought you your favorite treat."

McCain opened the offering. "Oh, yes, with sprinkles!" he said.

Sidoti passed him a cup. "A little coffee with a little cream and a little sugar," she said.


This is neither a joke nor an exaggeration. ThinkProgress even has a video.

So, in March, McCain gives political reporters free barbecue, and in April, the nation's leading newspaper editors give McCain free doughnuts (with sprinkles!) and coffee.

There's something about this that undermines the notion of objective and detached journalism.

― Steve Benen

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Endorses Barack Obama

Barack Obama: Democrats deserve a nominee for change

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08107/873625-192.stm

On Tuesday, Pennsylvanians will have the unusual luxury of voting in a Democratic presidential primary that promises to be truly relevant. Like two opposing armies marching to a new Gettysburg, the forces of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton come to this latest battlefield symbolizing two views of America -- one of the past, one of the future. Pennsylvania Democrats need to rise to the historic moment.

For us it is the candidates' vision and character that loom as the decisive factors in this race. For as dissimilar as they are, the two share much in common. It starts with their mold-breaking candidacies. Whoever wins the nomination will vie for a special place in U.S. history -- to be either the first African-American or the first female commander in chief.
•
Although their backgrounds are different, they have come to the same conclusion, one now shared by many Americans, that the Bush administration has taken the nation on a profoundly wrong course both at home and abroad. The excitement that has animated this primary season -- the surge of new voters, the change of party registrations -- is an expression of the nation's hunger for change.

For as hard as they have run against each other, both candidates are united in running vehemently against President Bush and all his works -- another common theme that came out in their visits to the Post-Gazette editorial board on successive days this week. Sen. Clinton was the more explicit in her disdain: George W. Bush "is one of the worst, if not the worst, president we have ever had."

Not surprisingly, the policies they advocate have much in common and are generally the polar opposites of those espoused by the current administration.

On the domestic front, the prescriptions they offer on issues such as health care, the environment and education declare that government must be an agent of change to benefit the lives of ordinary Americans, not a power that shrinks from regulating or directing for fear of offending a core ideology.

In their expansive plans, Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton do have their own emphases and differences -- Sen. Clinton's health-care plan, for example, would cover more Americans than Sen. Obama's, but both would be a vast improvement on the status quo that leaves 47 million Americans uninsured and continues to soar in expense.

On foreign policy, both are united in their desire to bring the troops home from Iraq while improving the strategic situation in Afghanistan, the place of unfinished business where the al-Qaida spiders first spun their deadly web for 9/11 and are coming back thanks to the Iraq diversion.

On Iraq, for those inclined to remember, Sen. Clinton carries more baggage, for she voted to approve the war in the first place. For those inclined to forgive, she would seek to repair relations with allies strained by the Iraq misadventure, as Sen. Obama also would.

There is one last common ground for these candidates: They are both uncommonly smart, thoughtful and very well-versed in the issues. They care about people and they care about the workings of government. They are prepared.

Their strengths promise, in short, the one thing that the Bush administration has so shockingly lacked: competency. There will be no intellectually lazy president in the White House if either succeeded to it, no outsourced thinking to the vice president or the secretary of defense, no cheerfully shallow praise for unqualified political appointments, no enduring cause for embarrassment by the American people.

So forget all the primary skirmishing. Sen. Obama is every bit as prepared to answer the ring of the 3 a.m. phone as Sen. Clinton. Forget this idea that Sen. Obama is all inspiration and no substance. He has detailed positions on the major issues. When the occasion demands it, he can marshal eloquence in the service of making challenging arguments, which he did to great effect in his now-famous speech putting his pastor's remarks in the greater context of race relations in America.

Nor is he any sort of elitist. As he said yesterday in effectively refuting this ridiculous charge in a meeting with Post-Gazette editors, "my life's work has been to get everybody a fair shake."

This editorial began by observing that one candidate is of the past and one of the future. The litany of criticisms heaped on Sen. Obama by the Clinton camp, simultaneously doing the work of the Republicans, is as illustrative as anything of which one is which. These are the cynical responses of the old politics to the new.

Sen. Obama has captured much of the nation's imagination for a reason. He offers real change, a vision of an America that can move past not only racial tensions but also the political partisanship that has so bedeviled it.
•
To be sure, Sen. Clinton carries the aspirations of women in particular, but even in this she is something of a throwback, a woman whose identity and public position are indelibly linked to her husband, her own considerable talents notwithstanding. It does not help that the Clinton brand is seen by many in the country as suspect and shifty, bearing the grimy stamp of political calculation counting as much as principle.

Pennsylvania -- this encrusted, change-averse commonwealth where a state liquor monopoly holds on against all reason and where municipal fiefdoms shrink from sensible consolidation -- needs to take a strong look at the new face and the new hope in this race. Because political business-as-usual is more likely to bring the usual disappointment for the Democrats this fall, the Post-Gazette endorses the nomination of Barack Obama, who has brought an excitement and an electricity to American politics not seen since the days of John F. Kennedy.

First published on April 16, 2008 at 12:00 am

Another Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Columnist Endorsement

Looking toward the future

There are plenty of reasons to vote for Barack Obama -- and against Hillary Clinton

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

By Dan Simpson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Dan Simpson, a retired U.S. ambassador, is a Post-Gazette associate editor (dsimpson@post-gazette.com).)

Six days from today, Pennsylvanians will take up their unexpectedly important obligation to express their opinions on the relative merits of the two Democratic candidates, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. I will be voting for Mr. Obama, for the following reasons:

• He represents the future of America; Mrs. Clinton, the past. Even though some might view the Clintons' previous occupancy of the White House with misty eyes, savoring the absence of the Iraq war and recalling an economy that wasn't tilted toward the oil industry, financial nongeniuses with enormous incomes and the rich in general, that was the 1990s and now is now, eight years later.

• It may seem stuffy to talk about the dignity of the White House, but it is hard to imagine that Americans really would like to see the Clintons' personal lives once again on national display. Whatever reservations one might have about the Bushes, they set a high standard of personal behavior. Michelle and Barack Obama look fine in this area, although they might want to choose their Washington church with care.

• It is fair to look at a candidate's supporters and opponents as a measure of likely behavior in office. In Pennsylvania, Mrs. Clinton has been endorsed by some of the state's harder-core professional politicians.



These include Gov. Ed Rendell, Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and former Pittsburgh Mayor Sophie Masloff. Each of these political figures may have hopes to win some spoils in another Clinton presidency, or debts to pay from a previous one. Mr. Rendell hopes for high national office; Mr. Onorato will want support for his candidacy for governor, and so forth. But they may have made a mistake in jumping so early for Mrs. Clinton, or, driven by ambition, jumping for Mrs. Clinton at all. Instead of betting on the past, they might have thought of staying neutral in the primary, letting the people vote without their advice.


• It is unfortunate, but joining some of Pennsylvania's career politicians in opposing Mr. Obama are those who simply cannot abide the idea of an African American as president of the United States. That is not to say that to support Mrs. Clinton is to be racist. But, for me, if the racists line up on one side of the line, as a matter of principle I will almost certainly find myself on the other side of it. (I did not vote for Lynn Swann for governor, however.) It is Mr. Obama's ability as a leader, not his race, that is the bottom line for me.


• Another reason to vote for Mr. Obama and against Mrs. Clinton is her sometimes shaky relationship with the truth. Maybe I am exceptionally sensitive to that quality after having been lied to systematically by the Bush administration about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and fictional links to al-Qaida, but it seems to me that Mrs. Clinton sometimes does have a problem in this area. I go way back to watching her on television in 1994 dishing up half-truths and untruths about how she had miraculously made $100,000 in profits on commodity transactions in Arkansas.


The latest round was her mis-recalled account of landing in Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina, under sniper fire, well after the war there had ended. That perhaps unintended whopper stung me particularly because I lived in Tuzla in 2001 and knew some of the people involved there.


• I also want the American people to know who donated and how much to Mr. Clinton's presidential library before the Pennsylvania vote. The Clintons released their tax returns, but not the information about the library. Of course the Republican candidate, Sen. John McCain, has still not released even his tax returns.



What delightful shock still awaits us?


• An especially murky area that has prompted me to side with Mr. Obama against Mrs. Clinton is the relationship between her husband's financial arrangements and her candidacy. Labor unions, whose support Mrs. Clinton needs badly, must look closely at how she explains her husband's advocacy on behalf of Colombia as it lobbied for a free-trade agreement with the United States. She has opposed the accord as a senator and as a candidate, based on Colombia's weak record of respect for unionized workers and the risk of losing American jobs. She can't say she didn't know. Mr. Clinton was paid $800,000 for his support of the agreement and the two file a joint tax return. The other obvious question would be how such disagreements between them would be resolved if they were back in the White House together? I don't like to picture it.


The Obamas in the White House would not be troubled by these sorts of money-laden conflicts of interest.

• Finally, there is the intra-Democratic argument about which candidate would run stronger against Mr. McCain in November. There is the reported non-secret, secret strategy attributed to some Republicans of an intention to support Mrs. Clinton as the Democratic candidate because she would be easier for the senior-moment-plagued Mr. McCain to defeat in November than Mr. Obama. Even if I thought it likely that I would support Mr. McCain in November, I would find it difficult to persuade myself that it was a good idea to try to put the lesser of the two Democratic candidates on the ballot against him. Even the most partisan Republicans should favor putting the better of the two Democratic candidates into the general election.

Most important on Tuesday will be to vote. To think it through. To think of America's best interests.

Looking to the future, not betting on the past, I believe, is a course that takes one to the choice of Mr. Obama over Mrs. Clinton.

First published on April 16, 2008 at 12:00 am

And One More Post-Gazette Columnist/Editor Weighs In On Obama

Momma for Obama knows best

Wednesday, April 16, 2008
By Reg Henry, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08107/873671-154.stm

As a matter of full disclosure, I should tell you that my wife, a long-time Republican, has changed her party registration in advance of the Pennsylvania Primary and has appeared in public wearing "Another Momma for Obama" button.

Nothing in my life had prepared me for this. A squadron of pigs could have flown by and I would not have been as surprised. This was the woman who, when I became a citizen more than 20 years ago, strongly suggested that I might be smart to register as a Republican if I knew what was good for me. Well, I said indignantly, am I a man or a mouse? So I squeaked like any wise fellow and got with the program.

With the Momma newly converted, she pressured me to become a Democrat too, but this time I resisted. I like being one of the few remaining liberals in the Republican Party and I feel that if I hold out I'll be granted endangered species protection and I'll get my own national park and pretty female bird watchers will observe me through binoculars.

So as a person who thinks party affiliations pretty much nonsense, I can say the following to make the Momma happy, because it just happens to be the truth: This alleged controversy over Barack Obama's comments about guns and religion -- the so-called "bitter comment" -- is the biggest load of bull fertilizer ever to fall off the back of the political truck.

First of all, let us examine what Sen. Obama actually said at a San Francisco fund-raiser on April 6. It was so shocking that apparently it took five days before anyone could denounce it.

"You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them ..." he said. "And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

What is important to remember is that Mr. Obama was speaking sympathetically about these people. And, yes, not that it seems to matter to the nattering classes, there is truth in what he said. When people feel defeated, they do feel bitter and they do cling to the cultural pillars of their lives, religion being one of them, our help in ages past and our help for years to come.

As for guns in rural Pennsylvania and the Midwest, praising the Lord and passing the ammunition is what goes on. That's a fact, not a judgment.

But if there is one industry still booming in this country, it is the controversy fabrication industry. Various political and media elitists fell over themselves to feed the production line with claims that Barack Obama was an elitist, the same fellow of humble origins who was a community organizer in Chicago, which I doubt he did to feel superior to the poor people he was helping.

Among all the elitists in the anti-Barack brigade, none outperformed Washington Post columnist George F. Will, who wrote:

"Obama may be the fulfillment of modern liberalism. Explaining why many working class voters are 'bitter,' he said they 'cling' to guns, religion and 'antipathy to people who aren't like them' because of 'frustrations.' His implication was that their primitivism, superstition and bigotry are balm for resentments they feel because of America's grinding injustice."

Really? What a mind reader. Still, I defer to superior breeding because here's a guy so snooty that he could go to the Elitist Persons Ball and guests would say, "Who's that elitist over there?" Here's a guy that when he goes to the ballpark, he may eat a hotdog but he probably has his pinkie extended. You can just imagine him denouncing Sen. Obama as an elitist over a good glass of sherry, looking down his superior nose, perhaps through a monocle. The whole thing is beyond satire.

But that is life in these United States, where a politico-media babbleocracy constantly assumes that working people are a bunch of dopes to be cynically manipulated with the scares and packaged controversies of the day -- gay marriage, illegal immigrants, unguarded comments, whatever serves to advance the interests of some sharp politician.

Talking about Hillary Clinton, I ask her supporters: Aren't you so proud that her campaign rushed to take advantage of the controversy with a TV ad that offers the reality of cynicism as an antidote to the audacity of hope? Who is their Momma anyway that they insult the people's intelligence like this?

Reg Henry
Reg Henry is the deputy editorial page editor of the Post-Gazette. He joined the Post-Gazette in 1978 as a copy editor and later was an associate editor who wrote editorials, and then city editor. He was also one of the earliest writers of the Saturday Diary, and for a time wrote a weekly humor column called "Oh Henry."
He left in 1988 to become the editor of The Monterey County (Calif.) Herald, which was then owned by the Post-Gazette's parent company. A year after The Herald was sold to Scripps Howard, he returned to Pittsburgh, in 1994, as the PG's special projects editor and later rejoined the editorial page.
Born in 1948 in Singapore, where his father managed the Reuters news agency, Reg moved to Australia as a small boy and grew up in Brisbane. He began his newspaper career at the Brisbane Courier-Mail, a period which was interrupted by service in Vietnam with the Australian Army. He moved to Britain in 1973, where he had also lived briefly as a child, and worked for a small weekly before joining The Times of London on the sports desk.

John Stewart On Clinton and Guns, Obama Taken Out of Context

You need to listen ALL the way through to get Clinton's hypocrisy on using this wedge issue.

A Letter From Dan Rooney Of the Pittsburgh Steelers, on Obama

Dear Fellow Pennsylvanian,

Based on the experiences that I have had in my seventy-five years and my assessment of what I think our nation needs to make real the change that is so needed, I am proud and now feel compelled to endorse Senator Barack Obama.

This is not something that I do regularly but as I listen to the candidates in this race, I am struck that we continue to hear about the problems and the same challenges that we have been talking about for decades.

Protecting jobs here in Pennsylvania, breaking our dangerous and costly addiction to foreign oil, making health care accessible and affordable " these are neither new issues nor new ideas. And yet we have failed to make real progress. As a grandfather and a citizen of this community I think Barack Obama's, thoughtful, strategic approach is important for America.

When I hear how excited young people seem to be when they talk about this man, I believe he will do what is best for them which is to inspire them to be great Americans.

This time, we can't afford to wait. Our country needs a new direction and a new kind of leadership " the kind of leadership, judgment and experience that Senator Obama has demonstrated in more than 20 years of public service, and in a particularly impressive way in this campaign. Senator Obama has rejected the say-and-do anything tactics that puts winning elections ahead of governing the country.

And he has rejected the back-room politics in favor of opening government up to the people. Barack Obama is the one candidate in this race who can finally put an end to business as usual in Washington and bring about real change for Pittsburgh and the country as a whole. He has inspired me and so many other people around our country with new ideas and fresh perspectives.

True sports fans know that you support your team even when they are the underdogs. Barack Obama is the underdog here but it is with great pride that I join his team. When I think of Barack Obama's America I have great hope. I support his candidacy and look forward to his Presidency

Sincerely, Daniel M. Rooney,

Owner and Chairman, Pittsburgh Steelers

Are Pennsylvanians Bitter? You bet! A letter from the mayor of Braddock, PA

My name is John Fetterman, and I'm the Mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania.

A few days ago, Barack Obama spoke about our economy and about the frustration that folks across our state are feeling.

Now -- instead of actually addressing the challenges facing our communities -- Barack's opponents are taking these comments out of context to score political points.

This is exactly the kind of Washington politics that you and I want to stop.

Across Pennsylvania, in towns and small cities like mine, people are signing on to a letter to show their support for Barack and to say they're frustrated with politicians putting Wall Street before Main Street.

Check out the video of Barack's response about the economy and what people are feeling -- and sign on to the letter now:



In my town, Braddock, we have been hurt by job loss and economic downturn for decades. Barack is right on, and he understands how we feel. We need a leader who will fight for us, not the special interests.

As Mayor, I enthusiastically endorsed Barack Obama because he understands the needs of communities like mine -- and has the strength and vision to offer real solutions.

Please forward this message to your family, friends, and neighbors and tell them you know that Barack is the one candidate who will fight for our working families and bring about the change this country needs.

Thank you,

Mayor John Fetterman
Braddock, Pennsylvania

CNN Discusses Who the Elitists are - probably NOT Obama

With Hillary Clinton and John McCain teaming up to call Barack Obama "elitist", CNN panel brings out who the elitists really are. Clinton's $108 million income... McCain, 8 houses... Obama, growing up in poverty. Clinton voted for the Credit Card bill that gave more power to credit card companies to get blood from stones in the bankruptcy bill...her surrogates work for Colombia to bring jobs from Pennsylvania and other states to Colombia...she served on Walmart's board while it shipped manufacturing overseas and called unions vultures... McCain wants to give fewer benefits to Veterans.

As a Pennsylvanian.. I AM Mad as Hell at the Clintons, Bushes, and McCains for allowing our jobs to go overseas. And Obama told it as it was. Don't let them fool you to vote against your best interests. Listen to the CNN discussion. It says it all.

Hillary's Reverend Wright? Her Time on the Board of Walmart with John Tate

John Tate says "Labor Unions are Blood Sucking Parasites", during the time Hillary served on Walmart's board. And never did she speak up to defend America's labor unions. Hillary says" I'm always proud of Walmart and the way we do it better than anybody else." Her double-speak "Buy American" plan let Walmart use overseas sweatshops that displaced American workers and took advantage of young workers overseas.

Hillary's Superbackers in Pressuring Pelosi and the Superdelegates

There is a lot to pour over here, but the following folks are the ones who are pressuring Speaker Pelosi to go against the popular vote in the Democratic Primary. Their backgrounds are tied to huge sums of wealth, sometimes conservative views and ties with people such as Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp and The Carlyle Group, to name a few. Some are not. Senator Clinton even met with the Tribune-Review newspaper in Greensburg, PA recently - owned by Dick Scaife, who spent huge sums on attacking the Clintons during the Lewinsky scandal, where she brought up Obama's pastor. Has Scaife now endorsed Clinton? A question I'd like to know.

The names of Hillary's superbackers in this election include Marc Aronchick, Clarence Avant, Susie Tompkins Buell, Sim Farar, Robert L. Johnson, Chris Korge, Marc and Cathy Lasry, Hassan Nemazee, Alan and Susan Patricof, JB Pritzker, Amy Rao, Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Haim Saban, Bernard Schwartz, Stanley S. Shuman, Jay and Tracy Snyder, Maureen White, Steven Rattner. I’ve listed their backgrounds and their ties below. And they're willing to blow the party apart if they don't get their candidate and their way.

It’s exhaustive reading, but eye opening. Are these the people Democrats want determining their candidate over the popular vote? And many are part of the ultra-wealthy who have, at times backed Republican candidates and causes, as well. Others have been strictly Democratic backers, and some have ties to the huge telecom companies, security companies, and defense companies. (A question: Is this perhaps why Hillary was the only Senator who was not present to vote on whether or not to give retroactive immunity to the telecoms? And the only Democrat not to vote on it?

So who ARE Hillary’s backers? If you read on, the research I’ve done is a bit breathtaking. If you want to show your disapproval and your clout in maintaining the Democratic process, you can boycott those ventures who back this rather uncommon display of subverting the Democratic Process in the Democratic Party and you can write letters to their companies. Perhaps they will lose. It has given me no confidence in the open process that we would hope for under a 2nd Clinton Administration.

If they (the listed donors) win, perhaps we can re-name it the Cash Cow Party, or the Lobbyist Party. Some of the companies you can boycott if you disapprove? With some of the media conglomerates and moneys this group controls, one must ask, how will anyone report on Senator Clinton properly in their media enterprises?

Names and companies below.

1. Steven "Steve" Rattner is an American venture capitalist. As of 2004 he is founder and managing principal at private investment firm Quadrangle Group, which invests media and communications companies in the United States and Europe. A graduate of Brown University, Rattner started his career as a reporter with the New York Times, first at the Washington bureau, where he became close friends with Times owner Arthur Sulzberger, who also was at the time working as a reporter, and then at the London bureau. Subsequently, he quit journalism and joined Morgan Stanley, where he founded their Communications Group. In 1989 he joined Lazard as a General Partner; he founded their Media and Communications Group and became their deputy chairman and deputy CEO before leaving to found Quadrangle.

Bresnan Broadband Holdings, LLC ("Bresnan") and Comcast Corporation (“Comcast”) have entered into a definitive agreement for Comcast to transfer to Bresnan cable television systems serving 317,000 basic subscribers in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah ("Mountain States"), the companies said today. Comcast will receive approximately $525 million in cash plus preferred and common equity interests in Bresnan. In addition to Comcast, Bresnan's equity owners include Providence Equity Partners Inc., as the lead investor, Quadrangle Group LLC, TD Capital Communications Partners, and Bresnan management.

2. Steven Rattner and Maureen White, National Finance Chair, The Democratic Party
(From Greetings: This alone is frightening)
Maureen is an active national and international human rights advocate. She serves as a US Government Representative to UNICEF and as the Chairman of the Leadership Council on Children Affected by Armed Conflict. She also sits on the Boards of Human Rights Watch and the International Rescue Committee. Prior to beginning her career in human rights work, Maureen worked as an international investment strategist as a partner at Clay-Finlay. Maureen and her husband, Steve Rattner, have four children: Rebecca, Daniel & David, and Izzy.

By Greg Sargent, New York Magazine (Email) Published Feb 20, 2006
Just when the Democrats should be poised to rake in big bucks to target the scandal-plagued GOP, the Democratic National Committee has quietly accepted the resignation of its top fund-raiser, Maureen White.

She is married to Wall Streeter Steven Rattner (who ruffled some feathers by joining Democrats for Bloomberg) and was the chief conduit of New York money. “We’re very grateful to Maureen,” says Howard Dean. Insiders say that Bill Clinton will host a big event in White’s honor in New York on April 10. It’ll be the former president’s first fund-raising event for Dean’s DNC. White raised huge sums for John Kerry and helped the DNC raise an off-year record $51 million in 2005. “Howard wanted to extend her stay as long as possible,” says one DNC-er. The job of chief fund-raiser is an exhausting and intense one, knowledgeable sources say, and after four and a half years, White decided she’d grown weary of her central role, though she’ll continue to help the party. A successor to White has not yet been named.

3. Robert Johnson , BET (Black Entertainment Television), Robert L. Johnson (born April 8, 1946) is an American businessman and the founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), and is its former chairman and chief executive officer. Johnson is currently the chairman of RLJ Development which he is also founder. He is also the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, a National Basketball Association franchise.

He became the first black billionaire in America in 2001. As of the end of 2007, he is one of two African American billionaires (The other being Oprah Winfrey) in The US, according to Forbes magazine. Forbes in 2007 estimated his wealth at $1.1 billion, not enough to make the Forbes 400 that year. (The minimum amount to be on the list in 2007 is $1.3 billion.).

J ohnson also serves on the boards of General Mills and Hilton Hotels.In 2006, Johnson became a staunch advocate of phasing-out the Estate tax. He went so far as to call the tax racist, although relatively few black people will have to pay this tax.

In late 2006, Johnson founded Our Stories Films, a Los Angeles-based film company. His partner is Harvey Weinstein, whose own new enterprise, the Weinstein Company, will serve as his distributor. JPMorgan Chase invested $175 million into Our Stories. His private equity fund is financed partly by the Washington-based Carlyle Group, while his hedge fund has backing from Deutsche Bank.

In 2007, Johnson was so inspired by new Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf that he and a delegation of several African-American leaders toured Liberia and committed to revitalizing the historic relationship between African-Americans and the war-torn country. This led to the creation of the $30 million Liberia Enterprise Development Fund.[6] Months later Johnson wrote a controversial letter to the Washington Post advocating that the new AFRICOM Military Command be based in Liberia. Johnson has also called for "African-Americans to support Liberia like Jewish-Americans support Israel".[6]

In January, 2008, Johnson became the target of criticism for remarks he made to supporters of Hillary Clinton about Barack Obama. Johnson taunted Obama about his self-confessed past cocaine use. The Clinton campaign denied this, submitting that the comments were referring to Obama's work as a community organizer. In subsequent days, Johnson was roundly criticized for his comments as hypocritical given the prodigious glorification of drug use and sale by artists prominently featured on BET.

3. Marc Aronchick: Hangley Aronchick Segal and Pudlin law firm, Mr. Aronchick served as a member of the Civil Rules Committee of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and as a member of the Judicial Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He previously served as a member of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Mr. Aronchick also served as a member of the Bench Bar Relations Task Force of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He has served as chair of the Board of Ethics of the City of Philadelphia. He has served as a federal and state court appointed arbitrator or mediator, and as a Judge Pro Tem of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. Mr. Aronchick has a diverse national trial and appellate practice, including health care fraud and abuse, health care litigation, controversies involving financial institutions, antitrust, environmental, employment, securities, class actions, construction, professional malpractice, governmental, administrative, general business and white collar criminal defense cases. (Greetings: A good person to have on your side going into the PA primary.)

4. Clarence Avant, Universal Publishing Group and Motown/Polygram Acknowledged as a father figure by numerous performers and producers, Avant has been honored publicly for his positive contributions to society. In 1993, Avant was named Chairman of Motown Records and, four years later, he became the first African-American to serve on the International Management Board for Polygram. Today, Avant is president of his own publishing companies, Avant Garde and Interior Music Corp. Clarence Avant also serves a member of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Pepsi-Cola African-American Advisory Board.

5. Susie Tompkins Buell Esprit Clothing and Susie Tompkins Buell Foundation

6. Sim Farrar Signalife, Inc and other investments by, Signalife
The 2008 Frost & Sullivan Patient Monitoring Technology Innovation of the Year Award was presented to Signalife in recognition of its superior leadership and vision in patient monitoring with its Fidelity heart monitoring systems. Signalife’s unique technology provides unprecedented signal clarity in the highly sought-after real-time, wireless cardiac monitoring arena. Its ability to understand and recognize market needs and then develop innovative and unique technologies to address those dilemmas has earned Signalife the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation of the Year Award in the North American Patient Monitoring Market.

Signalife (SGN), a Greenville, SC, firm specialized in biomedical signal monitoring, has hired a new distribution organization for its Fidelity 100 product line. The technology, originally developed to monitor brain waves of U.S. Air Force Pilots, compresses and reduces noise prior to amplifying an ECG signal, improving signal quality. The new sales group consists of independent distributor reps for cardiac rhythm management products. The initial focus will be on the Southern region of the U.S., from North Carolina to Texas. Additional representation is already under consideration in other areas of the country. Signalife will start with 25 sales reps and may increase that to 50 by the end of the year. The independent reps will go after its existing relationships with physicians and hospitals, a group that Signalife CEO Pamela Bunes says “mirror the desired call points for our company.” (Note from greetings: Health care costs?)

7. Chris Korge From the Miami Herald: Chris Korge hates to be called a lobbyist. "I'm an attorney," he huffs. True, he is an attorney, but he is primarily a lobbyist -- arguably the top lobbyist today in Miami-Dade County. The two dozen clients he represents before the county commission include venerable institutions such as BellSouth, Host-Marriott, and Parsons Brinckerhoff Construction Services.
Avenue Capital, NYC

8. Marc and Cathy Lasry
Marc Lasry is one of the pioneers of the distressed securities market, which has been the exclusive focus of his professional career. Marc is a Founder and Managing Partner of Avenue Capital Group, the distressed fund manager with assets totaling over $5 billion. He is also the Founder and Senior Managing Director of Amroc, one of the largest broker/dealers of distressed securities. Prior to operating Amroc as an independent entity, Marc and Amroc were affiliated with Acadia Partners L.P., an investment partnership whose general partners include Keystone, Inc. (an investment partnership firm that was affiliated with the Robert M. Bass Group), American Express Company, and the Equitable Life Assurance Society of America. Marc previously was Co-Director of the Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization Department at Cowen & Company. Prior to that time, he served as Director of the Private Debt Department at Smith Vasiliou Management Company. Previously, Marc specialized in bankruptcy law at the New York law firm of Angel & Frankel.

9. Hassan Nemazee
Cochair, Carret Asset Management Group LLC, Cochair, Brean Murray, Carret & Co., LLC, and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Nemazee Capital Corporation, New York; board of Asia Society. (from Wikipedia) is a multimillionaire Iranian-American investment banker. Nemazee was born in Washington, D.C. on January 27, 1950 and attended Landon School, graduating in 1968. He received his AB degree with Honors from Harvard University in 1972. Nemazee has not returned to Iran since the Iranian revolution. Most of his family's property was seized by the new Iranian government (Greetings question - how would this affect policy with Iran?)

10. Susan Patricof and Alan Patricof
Susan Patricof, Sister-in-law of producer/Tribeca Film Center honcho Jane Rosenthal. Virtually plays herself as 'auction bidde" in her sole film role, since she is not a full-time actress, but rather the wife of wealthy venture-capital entrepreneur Alan Patricof. Both were early major financial supporters of, and now friends, with President Bill Clinton.

Alan Patricof is the founder and managing director of Greycroft, LLC. A longtime innovator and advocate for venture capital, Mr. Patricof entered the industry in its formative days with the creation of Patricof & Co. Ventures Inc., a predecessor to Apax Partners, Inc. of which he was founder and chairman. In 2006, this led to his formation of Greycroft Partners, a venture capital firm focused on the digital media sector. During the past 40 years, he has participated in the financing and development of a large number of public and private companies. He has helped foster and grow a number of global companies, such as Apple Computer, America Online, Cadence Systems, Office Depot, FORE Systems, Cellular Communications, Inc., NTL and Audible, Inc. He was also a founder and chairman of the board of New York magazine, which later acquired the Village Voice and New West magazine. Currently, Mr. Patricof sits on the boards of Boston Properties, Pump Audio, Content Next, Handmark, Inc., The Newsmarket, and VoodooVox.

11. JB Pritzker
Ranked 451 among The World's Richest People In 2006 Grandchild of A.N. Pritzker (d. 1986), who, with sons Jay (d. 1999) and Robert, created industrial conglomerate Marmon (2004 sales: $6.4 billion) and hotel chain Hyatt (211 hotels worldwide).Mr. Pritzker is a Partner of and founded New World Ventures in 1996, which has become one of Chicago's prominent early-stage technology fund managers. He is also Managing Partner of The Pritzker Group. A founding board member of the Illinois Venture Capital Association, a founding director of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, and a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, Pritzker has been a forceful and active proponent of a stronger technology base in the Midwest region. He also continues to serve on a variety of other private corporate boards. Pritzker is a trustee and serves on the investment committee of Northwestern University

12. Amy Rao, who's the founder and CEO of Integrated Archive Systems, a technology services firm in Palo Alto. Rao also dislikes the term "fundraiser." And yet she and Buell raise funds for Democrats in prodigious amounts, a fact that may explain why they are such sought-after friends among Democratic candidates (and why Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton flew out to visit Buell when she turned 60 last August). Susie Tompkins Buell and Amy Rao speak every day, inevitably about politics. Buell is godmother to Rao's daughter. Rao spends weekends at Buell's retreat, in a small coastal village north of San Francisco. They are best friends. Between them, Buell and Rao have a lot of other friends. And a lot of people who want to be their friends, some of them quite ambitious.

13. Lady de Rothschild is Founder and Chief Executive of E L Rothschild LLC, a private company, since June 2002. From 1990 to 2002, Lady de Rothschild was President and Chief Executive Officer of FirstMark Holdings, Inc., which owned and managed various telecommunications companies. She was Executive Vice President for Development at Metromedia Telecommunications, Inc. from 1984 to 1989. She began her career in 1980 as an associate at the law firm of Simpson, Thacher and Bartlett LLP, where she practiced corporate law. Lady de Rothschild is a director of The Economist Newspaper Limited (member of the Audit Committee). She is also a member of the U.N. Advisory Committee on Inclusive Financial Services and a trustee of the American Fund for the Tate Gallery, the Outward Bound Trust (UK), and the Alfred Herrhausen Society for International Dialogue (Deutsche Bank). Lady de Rothschild is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Foreign Policy Association, and she served as a member of the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Committee and as the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board under President Clinton.

In 2000, she married her 3rd husband , Sir Evelyn Robert Adrian de Rothschild (born August 29, 1931) is a British financier and a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England. The son of Anthony Gustav de Rothschild (1887-1961) and Yvonne Cahen d'Anvers (1899-1977). In 1968, Evelyn de Rothschild was appointed a director of Paris-based de Rothschild Frères. In 1976 he took over as bank chairman from Victor Rothschild and in 1982 became chairman of Rothschilds Continuation Holdings AG, the co-ordinating company for the merchant banking group. He became co-chairman of Rothschild Bank A.G., Zurich in 1994, serving until 2003 when he oversaw the merger of the family's French and UK houses.
* Chairman - The Economist (1972-1989) * Chairman - British Merchant Banking & Securities House Association (1985-1989) * Deputy Chairman - Milton Keynes Development Corporation (1971-1984) * Chairman - United Racecourses (1977-1994) * Director - De Beers Consolidated Mines (1977-1994) * Director - IBM United Kingdom Holdings Limited (1972-1995)

Evelyn de Rothschild also served as a Director of the newspaper group owned by Lord Beaverbrook. Years later, he served for a time as a Director of Lord Black's Daily Telegraph newspaper and was a member of the Hollinger International Advisory Board (The Chicago Sun-Times media group).

13. Jay Snyder is a member of the US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. Snyder is also a principal of HBJ Investments, LLC, and Ashfield Consulting Group, a financial services firm. Snyder’s past service includes serving as a U.S. Representative to the 55th United Nations General Assembly and later as a public delegate involved in a variety of issues, including the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, sustainable development, and U.S. efforts at UN reform. Snyder has also served as vice president of Biocraft Laboratories, and as managing director for the Mayberry Core Asset Management Group.

14. Stanley Shuman is Managing Director of Allen & Company LLC, the investment banking firm. He currently serves on the Boards of News Corporation (Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News Group) and SESAC. He also serves on numerous civic and non profit boards, including Carnegie Hall, WNET/Channel 13, the Museum of Television and Radio, The Lower Manhattan Development Corp; Chairman of Center for New York City Law. He has served as Chairman of the Board of Visitors of the Institute of Public Policy Service and Public Affairs at Duke University; is a Charter Trustee of Phillips Academy, Andover and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Committee on University Resources at Harvard. He was appointed by President Clinton to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, served for 19 years as a member of the Financial Control Board for the City of New York, and he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and The Economic Club of New York.

15. Bernard Leon Schwartz (born December 12, 1926, Brooklyn, New York) was the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Loral Space & Communications, Chairman and CEO of K&F Industries, Inc., Chairman and CEO of Loral Corp., and president and CEO of Globalstar. During his time at Loral, he was instrumental in helping the Chinese military to acquire weapons techonology. He is currently the Chairman and CEO of BLS Investments, his own investment firm located in Manhattan. According to NBC News, from 1992 to 1996 he was the single largest contributor to the Democratic Party.

Loral Space & Communications Inc. is a satellite communications company headed by Michael B. Targoff and incorporated in Delaware. The company was formed in 1996 from the remnants of Loral Corporation when Loral divested its defense electronics and system integration businesses to Lockheed Martin for $9.1 billion. In 2006, Bernard L. Schwartz retired after leading the company for many years. Loral presently operates satellite manufacturing company Space Systems/Loral (acquired in 1990 as the Space Systems Division of Ford Aerospace), and has an investment in Telesat Canada in partnership with the Public Pension Investment Board of Canada. The company also participates in a number of international and domestic joint ventures, including an ownership stake in XTAR.History

In January 2002, Loral reached a settlement with the U.S. Government in a case relating to the company’s involvement in a review of a Chinese rocket launch failure in 1996. Loral agreed to pay a civil fine of $14 million to the State Department without admitting or denying the government’s charges. "Loral and US Government Settle Chinese Launch Matter", Loral news release, January 9, 2002.

On July 15, 2003, Loral and certain subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. In conjunction with the filing, Loral announced the sale of its North American satellite fleet to Intelsat to help reduce its debt. Loral emerged from Chapter 11 on November 21, 2005. Globalstar is a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation for telephone and low-speed data communications, similar to (and competing with) the Iridium satellite system.
(Note from Greetings: Could this be why Hillary was the only senator not present for the vote on whether or not to grant retroactive immmunity to the telecoms. Obama was present and voted against it.)

16. Haim Saban (I’ve saved for last – the long list of companies and their ties is somewhat terrifying if you are thinking of backing Senator Clinton)
Haim Saban and his family, along with much of the Egyptian Jewish community, fled Egypt for Israel after the 1956 Suez War. With an estimated current net worth of around $3.4 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 102nd richest person in America. He currently resides in Beverly Hills, California, and in Israel. Saban started his career as a concert organizer. In France, he participated in the introduction of Japanese anime and sentai TV series in the country. Saban Productions (TV and Film). In the United States, he became a television producer, founding Saban Entertainment in 1983. In the 1990s, Saban's company became best known for the adaptations of Power Rangers, Masked Rider, VR Troopers and Big Bad Beetleborgs. In 2003 he headed the $5.7 billion purchase of Kirch Media Group, the then-bankrupt German media conglomerate. In 2001, he and News Corporation (Rupert Murdoch and Fox) sold Fox Family Worldwide for $5.1 billion to The Walt Disney Company for ABC - the network was renamed ABC Family Channel. Saban made about $1.6 billion from this sale, making it the largest transaction between a company and a private citizen ever. In June 2006, he was part of an investor group led by Texas Pacific Group of Fort Worth, Texas and Thomas H. Lee Partners that won the bid for Univisión, the largest Spanish-language media company in the United States. The bid was for $12.7 billion (USD). Shareholders have filed a lawsuit over the handling of the deal.

Saban summarized his politics in a 2004 New York Times interview with the statement, "I'm a one-issue guy and my issue is Israel." Saban has donated to the US Democratic Party and the Israeli Labor Party, he has also donated to Republicans including George W. Bush, and has business affiliations with Rupert Murdoch.

TPG Capital (formerly Texas Pacific Group, commonly referred to as "TPG") is a private equity investment firm Notable companies TPG has owned or invested in over the years include Continental Airlines, Ducati, Neiman Marcus, Burger King, J. Crew, Lenovo, MGM, Seagate, Alltel Wireless, Harrah's, Avaya, Freescale Semiconductor, and Univision. TPG is among the "megafunds" in the private equity industry as well as one of the four most elite players (TPG, The Blackstone Group, KKR, and The Carlyle Group)

In recent years Blackstone has made significant investments in the hotel and commercial real estate industries by buying and taking private seven large publicly-traded firms:
* On February 1, 2008, Microsoft announced that it will be advised by the Blackstone Group in the unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo, along with Morgan Stanley.[2]
* On July 3, 2007, Blackstone Group and Hilton Hotels Corporation announced plans for the Blackstone Group to acquire Hilton Hotels Corporation with all debt assumed in an all cash deal valued at $26 billion.[3][4]
* On July 1, 2007, Blackstone sold Global Tower Partners to Macquarie Infrastructure Partners for an enterprise value of $1.425 billion. Global Tower Partners is a leading owner and operator of wireless towers and sites.[5]
* In May 2007, the government of the People's Republic of China through its China Investment Corporation agreed to buy $3 billion non-voting stock in Blackstone, which is slightly less than a 10% stake. As a result Blackstone has increased its initial public offering to $7.8 billion worth of stock, which includes the China stake.
* In May, 2007, Blackstone agreed to purchase Alliance Data for $7.8 billion but changed its mind in January, 2008.
* In April, 2007, Blackstone agreed to sell Extended Stay Hotels, based in Spartanburg, South Carolina and its brands to The Lightstone Group for $8 billion.
* In March, 2007, Blackstone filed for $4 billion initial public offering, preparing to change private to a public firm.[6]
* In March, 2007 Blackstone purchased The Tussauds Group, for £1 billion from Dubai International Capital.[7]
* In December, 2006, Blackstone as part of a Consortium of private equity funds including Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and TPG, agreed to purchase all stock shares of Biomet for approximately $10.9 billion. Biomet is a worldwide manufacturer and marketer of hip, knee, shoulder, and spinal implants and supporting surgical supplies for the orthopedic industry.
* In November, 2006, Blackstone agreed through its affiliate, Blackstone Real Estate Partners, to acquire billionaire Sam Zell's Equity Office Properties Trust, for approximately $39 billion. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and a few others acted as financial advisors to Blackstone in the deal. Prior to the takeover Equity Office was the nation’s largest publicly held office building owner and manager. Its total office portfolio consisted of whole or partial interests in 580 buildings comprising 108,600,000 square feet (10,090,000 m²) in 16 states and the District of Columbia. The acquisition was the biggest takeover of a real estate company and the largest private equity deal in history.[8]
* In September, 2006, Blackstone led a consortium buyout of Freescale Semiconductor. The other members of the consortium were the Carlyle Group, Permira Funds and the Texas Pacific Group. [9]
* In July, 2006, Blackstone Capital Partners agreed to purchase Encore Medical for $870 million in cash. Encore makes spine, knee, hip and shoulder implants for the orthopedic industry.
* In June, 2006, Blackstone entered into a definitive agreement with Cendant Corporation to acquire Travelport, its travel distribution services business for about $4.3B in cash. Travelport includes the Orbitz travel reservation website used by consumers, the Galileo computer reservations system used by airlines and travel agents, Gulliver’s wholesale travel business, and other travel-related software brands and solutions.
* Also in June, 2006, Blackstone teamed up with Canadian property firm Brookfield Properties to acquire U.S. office REIT Trizec Properties. Blackstone and Brookfield valued Trizec at $8.9 billion.
* Since April, 2006, Blackstone is a major shareholder (4.5%) of Germany's Deutsche Telekom.
* In February, 2006, Blackstone announced it would purchase Meristar Hospitality Corporation and its 57 hotel assets for $2.6B. Meristar's additional 10 Florida resorts (which Blackstone announced it would acquire separately several weeks before buying the entire company) were relaunched as members of the LXR brand.
* In January, 2006, Blackstone closed on its $3.4 billion previously announced acquisition of La Quinta Corporation, an owner, manager, and franchiser of limited service hotels under the La Quinta Inns, La Quinta Inns & Suites, and Baymont Inn & Suites brands. In March, 2006 Blackstone announced it would sell the Baymont Inn brand to the Cendant Hotel Group and re-brand Baymont's existing hotels as La Quintas.
* In June, 2005, Blackstone acquired Wyndham International for $3.2 billion. The Wyndham brand and management business was sold to Cendant Corp and 14 full-service Wyndham hotels located primarily in urban locations were sold to Columbia Sussex, a private hotel ownership and management business based outside Cincinnati. The 21 hotels that remained consisted of Wyndham's prized resort assets and included such properties as El Conquistador Resort & Spa in Puerto Rico, The Reach Resort in Key West, FL, and Carmel Valley Ranch in Carmel, CA. These assets were converted to the LXR brand. Summerfield Suites, Wyndham's extended stay offering was sold to Global Hyatt and renamed Hyatt Summerfield Suites.
* In October, 2004, Boca Resorts, Inc. agreed to be sold to Blackstone for $1.25 billion. Boca Resorts owned and operated five resort properties in Florida that were all transitioned to the LXR Luxury Resorts brand.
* In August, 2004, Blackstone paid $800 million to acquire Prime Hospitality. Prime's AmeriSuites brand was quickly sold to Global Hyatt and has since been reborn as Hyatt Place. Thirty-seven Wellesley Inns were converted to the Extended StayAmerica brand and the Prime Hotel Saratoga Springs was renamed The Saratoga and joined the LXR Luxury Resorts brand.
*In March, 2004, its major affiliate, Blackstone Real Estate Partners, paid $1.9 billion to acquire Extended StayAmerica. ESA has since been combined with Blackstone's previously-owned Homestead Village brand and rechristened Extended Stay Hotels.

The Carlyle Group is a Washington, D.C., USA based global private equity investment firm with more than $81.1 billion of equity capital under management.[1] The firm operates four fund families, focusing on leveraged buyouts, venture & growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance investments. The firm employs more than 575 investment professionals in 21 countries with several offices in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia; its portfolio companies employ more than 286,000 people worldwide. Carlyle has over 1200 investors in 68 countries. The firm is well known for the dozens of world political figures and luminaries it has employed. Some of these figures, such as George H. W. Bush and his Secretary of State James A. Baker III, have generated controversy stemming from allegations of conflicts of interest.

Though known for its expertise in aerospace and defense, Carlyle invested more than thirty percent of its assets in the telecommunications and media sector. Noted portfolio companies are Dex Media, the former directories business of Qwest Communications; Willcom, a Japanese wireless company; Casema, a Dutch cable company; and Insight Communications, the ninth largest cable company in the U.S.

The Carlyle Group was once a major investor in US Investigations Services, which is the privatized arm of the United States Office of Personnel Management's Office of Federal Investigations, but has since divested itself, selling its stake to Providence Equity Partners in 2007. Brand-name companies that Carlyle owns include: Dunkin' Brands, which owns Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, and dental hygiene company Water Pik. Carlyle also recently took rental car company Hertz public.

In March 2008, Carlyle Capital Corporation, established in August 2006[12] for the purpose of making investments in U.S. mortgage-backed securities, defaulted on about US$ 16.6 billion of debt as the global credit crunch brought about by the subprime mortgage crisis worsened for leveraged investors. The Guernsey-based affiliate of Carlyle was very heavily leveraged , up to 32 times by some accounts, and it expects its creditors to seize its remaining assets.[13] Tremors in the mortgage markets induced several of Carlyle's 13 lenders to make margin calls or to declare Carlyle in default on its loans. Carlyle acquired United Defense Industries in October 1997, bringing in over 60% of Carlyle's defense business. United Defense went public on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2001 with Carlyle retaining a stock ownership position.

Connections between the Carlyle and the Bush family have inspired controversy, particularly in relation to the War on Terror and the Iraq War. George H. W. Bush and his Secretary of State James A. Baker III have at times been advisors to the group. One writer claimed that Saudi Arabian interests have given $1.4 billion to firms connected to the Bush family. Of this figure, $1.18 billion comes from contracts awarded to defense contractor Braddock, Dunn & McDonald, which Carlyle sold before George H. W. Bush became an advisor.[23] A Carlyle spokesman noted in 2003 that its 7 percent interest in defense industries was far less than several other venture capital groups.

(Last note from Greetings: Senator Clinton - Will you release your tax filings before the Pennsylvania election? These are some serious ties listed above.)

Clinton Donors Warn on Superdelegate Fight

Note from Greetings: This type of politics disgusts me. It is no different than the campaigns run by the Bush team. And with Hillary now appearing regularly on Fox, and her recent meeting for endorsement with the most right wing newspaper (and owner) in the country, The Pittsburgh Tribune Review (just before the PA primary), whose owner personally sponsored the legal funds to keep the heat on Bill Clinton, I have to wonder how much of an about face Senator Clinton has had - and if she is now beholden to the ultra-right wing media of Rupert Murdoch and Dick Scaife. This sounds like "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.", as the song goes. Her nod and wink to the Canadian government on NAFTA, while simultaneously blaming Obama, makes me think so.

March 27, 2008 By JEFF ZELENY, NY Times

WASHINGTON — Leading contributors to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton intensified their effort to keep the Democratic presidential contest alive on Wednesday and urged Speaker Nancy Pelosi to stay out of the superdelegate fight, admonishing her for suggesting that the candidate ahead in pledged delegates — now Senator Barack Obama — should become the nominee.

“This dynamic primary season is not at an end,” said a letter to Ms. Pelosi, which was signed by 21 top Democratic fund-raisers. “Several states and millions of Democratic voters have not yet had a chance to cast their votes.”

The letter, which carried threatening overtones in noting that many signatories were major Democratic donors, highlighted the deepening rift inside the party among supporters for Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama. While Ms. Pelosi has declared her neutrality in the race, she has said that she believes that the party’s superdelegates should not overrule the will of the voters and should back the candidate with the most pledged delegates.

As former President Bill Clinton warned voters in West Virginia to “saddle up” for a heated duel between the candidates, the Clinton supporters asked Ms. Pelosi to “reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates” at the convention. In a statement Wednesday evening, a spokesman for Ms. Pelosi said the speaker believed that the fight should be resolved before the convention.

“The speaker believes it would do great harm to the Democratic Party if superdelegates are perceived to overturn the will of the voters,” said Brendan Daly, the spokesman. “This has been her position throughout this primary season, regardless of who was ahead at any particular point in delegates or votes.”

In her remarks on the matter, Ms. Pelosi said earlier this month on the ABC News program “This Week,” “If the votes of the superdelegates overturn what happened in the elections, it would be harmful to the Democratic Party.”

In their letter, the Clinton donors reminded Ms. Pelosi that they had contributed to House Democrats and urged her to be “responsive” to their argument on Mrs. Clinton’s behalf.

The letter was signed by some of Mrs. Clinton’s largest fund-raisers, including Robert L. Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, and Maureen White and Steven Rattner, longtime friends of the Clintons. They called the position of Ms. Pelosi and a growing number of uncommitted superdelegates “untenable,” and warned against any effort to cut short the race.

Mr. Obama is almost certain to maintain his lead in pledged delegates after the remaining 10 contests are finished on June 3. Mrs. Clinton is working hard to close the gap, making the case to superdelegates that she is the more electable Democratic candidate in the general election.

The letter was the first public indication, in the party’s prolonged nominating fight, that hard feelings in the presidential race could spill over into other Democratic campaigns.

As he campaigned in Parkersburg, W.Va., on Wednesday, Mr. Clinton dismissed concerns that the increasingly bitter nominating fight could wound the party. He said the race should not end until all voters — and superdelegates — had a chance to weigh in.

“I think your vote should be counted, don’t you?” Mr. Clinton said, speaking to voters who are scheduled to cast their ballots May 13. “I know Hillary’s gaining on them when they say, ‘Oh, let’s shut this down now; we don’t want to be divided.’ ”

Mr. Obama’s campaign released a statement calling the letter “inappropriate.”

Aboard his campaign plane Wednesday evening, Mr. Obama called the proposal by Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee for resolving the nominating contest in June “a good one” — though Mr. Obama seemed to be endorsing a June conclusion more than Mr. Bredesen’s idea of convening a meeting of superdelegates to settle the nomination.

“I think giving whoever the nominee is two or three months to pivot into the general election would be extremely helpful, instead of having this drag up to the convention,” Mr. Obama told reporters as he flew to New York.

Patrick Healy contributed reporting from Greensboro, N.C.

Governor Bill Richardson endorses Barack Obama

Richard's letter to his supporters:

During the last year, I have shared with you my vision and hopes for this nation as we look to repair the damage of the last seven years. And you have shared your support, your ideas and your encouragement to my campaign. We have been through a lot together and that is why I wanted to tell you that,after careful and thoughtful deliberation, I have made a decision to endorse Barack Obama for President.

We are blessed to have two great American leaders and great Democrats running for President. My affection and admiration for Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton will never waver.

It is time, however, for Democrats to stop fighting amongst ourselves and to prepare for the tough fight we will face against John McCain in the fall. The 1990's were a decade of peace and prosperity because of the competent and enlightened leadership of the Clinton administration, but it is now time for a new generation of leadership to lead America forward.

Barack Obama will be a historic and a great President, who can bring us the change we so desperately need by bringing us together as a nation here at home and with our allies abroad.Earlier this week, Senator Barack Obama gave an historic speech. that addressed the issue of race with the eloquence, sincerity, and optimism we have come to expect of him.

He inspired us by reminding us of the awesome potential residing in our own responsibility. He asked us to rise above our racially divided past, and to seize the opportunity to carry forward the work of many patriots of all races, who struggled and died to bring us together.

As a Hispanic, I was particularly touched by his words. I have been troubled by the demonization of immigrants--specifically Hispanics-- by too many in this country. Hate crimes against Hispanics are rising as a direct result and now, in tough economic times, people look for scapegoats and I fear that people will continue to exploit our racial differences--and place blame on others not like them .

We all know the real culprit -- the disastrous economic policies of the Bush Administration!Senator Obama has started a discussion in this country long overdue and rejects the politics of pitting race against race. He understands clearly that only by bringing people together, only by bridging our differences can we all succeed together as Americans.

His words are those of a courageous, thoughtful and inspiring leader, who understands that a house divided against itself cannot stand. And, after nearly eight years of George W. Bush, we desperately need such a leader.

To reverse the disastrous policies of the last seven years, rebuild our economy, address the housing and mortgage crisis, bring our troops home from Iraq and restore America's international standing, we need a President who can bring us together as a nation so we can confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad.

During the past year, I got to know Senator Obama as we campaigned against each other for the Presidency, and I felt a kinship with him because we both grew up between words, in a sense, living both abroad and here in America.In part because of these experiences, Barack and I share a deep sense of our nation's special responsibilities in the world.

So, once again, thank you for all you have done for me and my campaign. I wanted to make sure you understood my reasons for my endorsement of Senator Obama. I know that you, no matter what your choice, will do so with the bestinterests of this nation, in your heart.

Sincerely,Bill Richardson