Sunday, January 22, 2006

Ditto

Molly Ivins, who may be the only person from Texas that I like these days, wrote a great article, which title says it all:
I Will Not Support Hillary Clinton for President.

Recalling Gene McCarthy, Ivins observes that there are times when the "country is desperate for leadership" and I agree that this is one of those times. Re: Hillary Clinton, she notes:

Enough. Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation. Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone This is not a Dick Morris election. Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq, and that alone is enough to disqualify her. Her failure to speak out on Terri Schiavo, not to mention that gross pandering on flag-burning, are just contemptible little dodges.

I agree. Clinton, Biden, and too many others in the so-called Democratic party are beginning to exhibit the political version of battered spouse syndrome. They just can't take a stand on anything, for fear of alienating some faction of the party or the Independents or the moderate Republicans. They are beginning to believe the Republican spin that they know what's best for the country. Not true. As Ivins writes:

What kind of courage does it take, for mercy's sake? The majority of the American people (55 percent) think the war in Iraq is a mistake and that we should get out. The majority (65 percent) of the American people want single-payer health care and are willing to pay more taxes to get it. The majority (86 percent) of the American people favor raising the minimum wage. The majority of the American people (60 percent) favor repealing Bush's tax cuts, or at least those that go only to the rich. The majority (66 percent) wants to reduce the deficit not by cutting domestic spending, but by reducing Pentagon spending or raising taxes.

The majority (77 percent) thinks we should do "whatever it takes" to protect the environment. The majority (87 percent) thinks big oil companies are gouging consumers and would support a windfall profits tax. That is the center, you fools. WHO ARE YOU AFRAID OF?


Besides Bush and his reign of terror?

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