Politicians' Infidelity - Playing with Power

"He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still." Lao Tzu

I don't want to talk about John and Elizabeth Edwards. They have enough on their plates. They don't need anything from me that feeds the beast. But I have something to say about an already well-fed beast, our very own Bubba, and his already well-documented infidelities, specifically with Monica Letmeinsky.

The Clinton-Lewinsky affair is an object lesson for all politicians.

Infidelity among us common folk is about a lot of things, mostly dissatisfaction with a marriage. Not the same dynamic in celebrity circles. Movie stars, rock stars, we know all about their groupies and the Cult of Celebrity. Getting behind the velvet rope. 'I'm with the band.'

There's an even different, I'd say more seductive dynamic among political groupies. A sprecial breed. Getting behind the rope line. 'I'm with the Man.'

My checkered career includes working in politics from the State House to the White House. I've seen firsthand how enticing Political Power can be. And how willingly young women (maybe these days young men too) offer themselves sexually to their powerful superiors.

Power is an incredible aphrodisiac. During the act, yes, but even more important to the less powerful, after the fact. Think about it. What did Monica Lewinsky get out of the sex or 'relationship' with Bill Clinton? A cigar? Sheesh. No cigar. A recycled book of poetry? Please. She was the one on her knees. She did the work, sex-wise, not the other way around. She was totally turned on by the fact she was, ohmigod, doing the President of the United States.

There's another aspect about the whole mess that's just plain wrong. It's bad enough Republican hypocrits used the Clinton-Lewinsky affair to further their own agendas at the country's expense. I got almost as sick and tired of liberal feminist bleating about Bill Clinton's sexual harassment of a poor little intern. It. Didn't. Happen.

Their affair wasn't about sexual harassment, it was about sexual dalliance. And the pull of power. She was more than a willing participant, she was an instigator. What, the president just looked around, their eyes met across a crowded room... and... give me a break. She put herself in his path. Probably climbed over others to get there.

L'affair Lewinsky was inappropriate behavior by the president, but not harassment. Monica Lewinsky wasn't seduced. Her job was never in jeopardy. Her reputation was ... ironically at her own hand.

Bill Clinton certainly rocked his marriage, but the only person who damaged Ms. Lewinsky was Ms. Lewinsky, with her inability to keep her mouth shut, on and off the job. She couldn't keep the details of the affair discretely to herself.

She had to brag. They all have to brag. There's no fun in having sex with a powerful politician if you can't tell your friends about it. Revel in their envy and awe. That's the draw. The telling, not the doing.

For those who've got real power it's tough to resist when attractive people throw themselves in your lap. It's tough to resist reaching out for whatever you want. Including low hanging forbidden fruit. That's the fatal flaw in many of our political protagonists. The ego and sheer guts it took them to get to the top makes them believe they're invincible. Untouchable.

Many are untouchable. Except by willing sex partners. And that's what inevitably brings them down.

Hillary. Oh Hillary

"Politics is the art of the possible; creativity is the art of the impossible." Ben Okri

I watched. I choked up. I was uplifted. I was, as usual, impressed. The rest is about grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, acceptance.

I am one of those "older women" who feel so robbed. And it's not just a philosophical issue to me, I've worked in politics at the highest levels. I know how far women have traveled, and yet when it comes to choosing between a man and a woman, we are still Second Class. In the eyes of the White Male Politicians who still run the show and who believe in their guts women and minorities are all equally second class citizens, it appears even a man of color was deemed preferable to a woman.

I first felt she shouldn't be VP but now I'm not so sure. As for those who worry about comfort level between Barack and Hillary, there's a parallel to be drawn: JFK and Johnson. The youthful purveyor of hope and the tough, savvy warhorse. They hated each other but look what they accomplished. If not for that historic partnership, Barack Obama might not be where he is today.

It could work. I just hope and pray all Hillary's history hasn't been written yet.

Enough said.

Obama's Pyrrhic Victory

"Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds." Henry Brooks Adams

Let's face it, Barack Obama didn't so much win as Hillary Clinton lost. Just as Obama will lose to McCain. That's (almost) all I have to say. I've said so much already, it's just air. Until it becomes reality.

I hope I'm wrong. But I fear that white people will, in the privacy of the voting booth, vote their personal prejudice, not our supposed national conscience. And I believe there are many, many women who will vote for McCain because they feel Hillary was robbed, and patronized in the bargain.

This is the 21st Century, this is America, how absurd to celebrate "the first Black presidential candidate." It shouldn't be an issue. Skin color and gender shouldn't matter. I hate that they still do. It degrades us as a people, and as a country.

In a way, singling the candidates out as "historic" is an insult not only to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, but to all people of color and all women.

These two candidates stand out on their own, for their intelligence, education, abilities, public service and passionate commitment to rights and freedoms for all people. Not because of their color or gender.

Politically, we are the most backward country in the civilized world. And when we elect John McCain president next November we should hang our heads in shame.

DNC Follies

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

"This body of 30 individuals has decided that they're going to substitute their judgment for 600,000 [Michigan] voters." Harold Ickes

I tried hard to watch the DNC rules committee hearing. Really I did. I know many of the players. I have a personal, pro-Hillary, pro-Democratic Party stake in the outcome. But I knew what it would be, what deals were made, how the die was already cast.

The hearing on CNN: Ponderous pomposity. Transparent toadying. Boring bullsh*t.

The ruling: No surprise. As it has so many, many times, the DNC let us down.

Why has this country suffered almost eight long years of incompetent, indifferent, criminal behavior from the Bush administration? Not because George W. Bush won two elections ... but because the Democrats threw them away.

And now we're about to do it again. Have we learned NOTHING? Count the votes. Count all the votes. All. And let the people speak. Yeah, right, like that'll ever happen.

I'll tell you this: I don't give a damn any more about He Said, She Said. I'm tired of opinions pro this or anti that. Woulda coulda shoulda. I just want to win! What is there left to say?

(Okay, that's it, burnout has officially commenced).

SATC - Entertainment, Not Politics

"... we have come a long way. No question. Definitely. But it's not because of 'Sex and the City.' It's because of what real women have done in real lives, not on TV sets." Susie Bright

Just when my brain is about to explode from too much media coverage of the presidential campaign, along comes the movie version of Sex and the City.

What does it say about our values that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama get a break from the spotlight while the media engage in a virtual masturbatory orgy of psychobabble about the global impact of a fictional group of horny, romantic, often silly women?

Enough! Sex and the City is a movie, not a movement. The real, political movement already happened -- back in the 60's and 70's. I know. I was there. It was called Women's Liberation. Equal Rights. The Sexual Revolution.

Those hard won battles weren't fueled by a TV show or a movie any more than the SATC movie or TV show launched any kind of new cultural breakthroughs. So today's 20-somethings seem obsessed about sex, why does that have so many writers' panties in a twist?

Every generation of young people thinks it invented sex. Our great grandparents were having group sex in bathtubs full of gin, for cryin' out loud. It was the Baby Boomer generation --Make Love, Not War-- that opened a truly new and open discussion.

We Boomers can claim, legitimately, that ours is the generation who brought sex, drugs and rock 'n roll out of the closet and into the forefront of our culture.

We took away the shame, the blame, the insulting game whose rules told us that healthy sexual appetites are for men only. That sexual objectification and worse, abuse, is tolerable. That women don't have the right to control our own bodies.

That's the bottom line. Now, we can not only control them, we can enjoy them. Do what we want with them. Discuss them. Trust me, we dished down-and-dirty then, and we still do.

Most of us weren't strutting the streets of Manhattan in $800 shoes and $1500 dresses. We wore jeans and flip flops. (Oh, you thought you invented those too? Jeez). But we had just as much sex just as casually and reviewed just as many details with our BFF's as do fictional Carrie and crew.

By the way, I'm a devoted SATC fan. Especially because the openness, dreams and vulnerability portrayed resonate with me and my generation of sexually active women from 30-to-50-something. And, one hopes, beyond.

SATC was a hot, sexy TV show with a lot of snappy dialogue, sex, flash, dazzle, and women dropping the F-bomb as casually as they dropped their panties. Yes, they all wanted to be married or at least cared for, but guess what ... so do we all. We don't need someone with a PhD in relationship therapy to tell us the obvious.

I've been eagerly waiting for the movie, but I'm planning to wait just a little longer til the crowds of over-dressed, overly self-conscious and pretentious SATC wannabes are gone. Then, my girlfriends and I will go. And laugh and cry and maybe get annoyed (I already hate Carrie's wedding dress) at the excess.

But in the end, it's just entertainment. Not politics. Which, frankly, gets more fantastical every day.

Hillary's Last Stand?

HillaryClinton.com - Action

"A quitter never wins and a winner never quits. To quit while losing is to lose while quitting." Napoleon Hill

Here's the latest email from Hillary. It's called Florida and Michigan. Here's what it says:

Millions of voters in Florida and Michigan are depending on you to help make sure they have a voice in this race. Will you stand up for them today?

Thanks to your efforts, thanks to the hundreds of thousands of people who have already spoken out, the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee is meeting May 31 to make a decision about whether or not the votes in Michigan and Florida will count.

Now I need you to urge the DNC to make the right decision on May 31. I need you to remind them that in the Democratic Party, we count every vote.

Tell the Democratic National Committee to count the votes of Florida and Michigan.

On May 31, the DNC has a chance to make it clear that the people of Florida and Michigan have a voice in our party. The decision is especially critical given the important role these states will play in November.

And your voice could make the difference for the millions of people who went to the polls in those two states to make their choice for president.

Stand with me today and tell the DNC to count the votes in Florida and Michigan.

I have consistently said that every vote must count. It is such an important principle in our party. I really appreciate you standing up for the values we share.

Thank you,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

What do you think I did?

Right. I clicked on the link and I signed up and I wrote what I truly believe. Everybody who voted for Hillary Clinton should see their votes count. Not just in Florida and Michigan, but everywhere.

I'm not a quitter. I want my vote to count too. I chose my candidate because I believe in her and I think she can win. I'm with her to the bitter end. I don't bail without a damn good reason. And I haven't heard one yet.

I don't make pompous, regal endorsements in favor of one candidate, not because I like him or his positions but because, personally, I can't stand her. Kennedy? Kerry? Are you kidding me??

I don't endorse the candidate who seems to be winning so I can seem to be on the winning team. How unbelievably shallow can you get? NARAL? Are you kidding me??

I don't endorse the presumptive best shot to secure myself a cabinet post or who knows what else. John Edwards? Are you kidding me??

I don't jump on a bandwagon just because it looks like the cool kids are there. That bandwagon was created by the so-called cool kids. Who are so very often so very wrong.

I have a position, an ideology, a belief system, a candidate ... and I stand firm until it's really over.

Here's what I told the DNC:

The DNC rules are arbitrary and wrong. It's bad enough our party has been unable to stand up effectively against all the judicial rulings made in favor of Republicans over many elections ... we should not now turn against our own. All the Democratic voters in America should be heard, not just the endorsing-for-gain politicians and other opportunists. Too many convention battles in the past have shown us that it's not over until it's over.

Why did I say that?

Because it's true. And because I don't give up when it seems to become more fashionable to support the other guy. Especially since I don't think the other guy can win.

The Democratic Party has become a joke compared to the Republican Machine. Florida and Michigan are hugely pivotal states in the general election. They represent a pattern that predicts a Clinton win over McCain in November.

If we disallow those voters a real voice and allow nouveau uber liberal guilt to become our clarion call ... it will instead become our swan song.

When are we going to get over ourselves and play to win?

Gore and Kerry and Clinton, Oh My

"All people are born alike - except Republicans and Democrats." Groucho Marx

In the democratic process, it's not over til it's over.

In the Democratic Party, it's over when somebody is publicly excoriated, humiliated and undermined by lies, innuendo and personal agendas.

In the Republican Party, it's only over for the Other Guy, after a rousing game of dig up the dirt, spin dross into dirt, throw the dirt, buy some soulless ditch diggers, say a lot of self-serving prayers and bury the Democratic opposition.

In a perfect world, Gore should have learned that from Ducacus, Kerry from Ducacus and Gore, Hillary from Ducacus, Kerry and Gore. But it's not a perfect world.

All four ran campaigns more imperfect than for any Eighth Grade Treasurer (Pick Me! Pick Me!). When attacked, the first three ignored, refused to defend or cry foul, engaged in massive denial. At least Hillary Clinton kept plugging, explored every avenue, attempted to Go the Distance.

Too little too late, especially combined with betrayal after betrayal by fellow Democrats with nothing to gain or lose, no ideological difference save personal animus for Bill or Hillary or both.

And unbelievably, Hillary chose equally arrogant, ineffectual advisers as her predecessors. (And ignored the best, brightest advice available). All those advisers allowed the candidates to run the campaigns. To make major strategic decisions. Big mistake. Really. Really. Big.

Political marketing has been a science for decades. Now in the 21st Century, and especially at the presidential level, it's become astrophysics. Mastering that particular skill isn't in the candidate's job description. Nor is it a role we want him or her to fill.

In smart campaigns, the candidate determines policies, positions, goals, visions. Schmoozes the big money. Appeals to smaller donors too. Does his/her homework and shows up ready to rumble.

It's up to the political pros to stage the right rumble, set the right stage, brainstorm and execute the best strategies to get the message out and the candidate in.

Winning campaigns are poised from day one to read the country's mind, locate the sweet spot, fill the money pot, have fallbacks and Hail Mary's at the ready, know the big stuff from the small stuff and never appear to sweat either.

It's pretty clear the Obama campaign figured that out from the jump. As did the McCain team, though that's no surprise ... Republicans have made political campaigning an atomic art form.

It's very clear Team Hillary got it wrong. (My former pol colleagues and I have been making these same points to each other for months. Hats off to Karen Tumulty of Time for getting it right).

No matter what happens before or during the Democratic National Convention this summer, I fear much of the country will look back in dismay next November and for years to come, wondering how a war-mongering Republican became President of the United States. Again.

Still, it's not over til it's over.

Barbara Walters Really Is Baba Wawa

"I guess it's good to be made fun of, I guess that means you're slightly famous." Barbara Walters

If you're an early Baby Boomer you remember Gilda Radner's hilarious send-ups of Barbara Walters on Saturday Night Live. More than parodying her slight speech impediment, Radner really skewered Walters' overblown sense of self-importance and concurrent false modesty about her iconic celebrity status.

Serious journalist? Yes, Walters had the chops and some of the 20th Century's top interviews to prove it. Ground-breaking feminist? Absolutely. She was television's first female journalist, breaking ground for most of today's women on TV news and quasi-news shows.

She even broke through the glass ceiling, if only briefly as television's first female evening news anchor on ABC. When she got cut, she showed 'em all by making more money and becoming more famous than the jamokes who juked her.

Less than impressive is her pivotal role in creating the execrable "infotainment" triad of news, entertainment and celebrity gossip that has supplanted actual news for millions of television viewers.

Did she dally with the great and near great along the way? Well, of course. Who wouldn't? But I don't believe for a second she slept her way to fame and fortune. She just slept with the famous and the rich and powerful who swam in the waters where she dangled her feet.

Now, thanks to the nauseating hype surrounding the most obscure affair she reveals in her newly released autobiography, we are subjected to cutesy, near-adolescent descriptions of her sexual exploits.

I just have to say for the record, Blech. If you can't talk like an adult, I don't want to listen.

Which is nothing compared to my outrage at the media for pouncing on Walters' revelation of her affair with former Massachusetts Senator Edward Brooke. And beating it to death. It's pandering of the very worst kind.

Until Walters' book, Brooke was a man living under the radar, completely out of public life. At the time of their affair he was her "younger man." A married man. A US Senator. And by the way, he's Black.

Groundbreaking, famous white woman and younger, formerly little known Black senator plastered all over the news together. Beyond Blech.

I don't know who thought up that disgusting marketing ploy, but Shame on You! And, I have a feeling, shame on Baba Wawa for going along with it just to sell her wittle book.

Billy and Miley Sittin in a Tree

Annie Liebovitz

"That’s just my personality. I don’t get shaken or stirred up over anything. Which can be a problem sometimes. I’m just, like, so no emotions. I just don’t let things faze me. I’m very much like my dad. My dad’s like this." Miley Cyrus

Interesting article by Rebecca Traister in salon.com on the Current Cyrus Controversy. I wrote about it too earlier this week, but I have more to say. Especially in response to readers comments, including one that accused all who decry the photos of having dirty minds.

I was skeeved out by the Billy-Miley images, not because I have a "dirty mind" but because the father-daughter photos were deliberately sexualized. And because Vanity Fair, Disney and Miley's parents chose to showcase them in that context.

Of course fathers hug and kiss their daughters in complete innocence; many such loving acts are caught in family photos. But few fathers would willingly contribute to, much less allow publication of photos appearing to celebrate Daddy's Little Ho.

Look at that picture. And the others. Does that say father-daughter to you? Yeesh.

And by the way, did anybody bother to read the actual article? Even it's author is taken aback by Miley's creepy child-woman maturity.

You have to wonder about her parent's judgement beyond the photos when you learn Miley's favorite TV show is Sex and the City. And that she tries to make Hannah Montana into a SATC teen homage. Not the sex, she assures us, just the friendships.

Blech. Really. Blech.

I'm a certified Baby Boomer (we invented open sexuality, remember). But I have to draw the line at a 15-year-old watching a show that portrays believable adult characters discussing the intimate details of their sex lives and engaging in soft core porn.

Neither Miley nor any other teenager can possibly understand or process the complexities of adult sexuality and relationships -- nor should they.

Our 24 year old son grew up in an open, loving home with all questions welcomed and answered. And with plenty of hugs and kisses. But he--and I--still find it creepy and uncomfortable to sit in front of the TV together watching graphic sex scenes.

Not because there's anything "dirty" about sex. But because we're mother and son. And because he was taught the value of privacy, decency, personal space and appropriate boundaries. He's also smart and mature enough to find sexual pictures of a 15-year-old disturbing, not sexy. Especially those with her father.

Teen sexuality is out of whack in this country already. The Cyrus pictures just make the issue more glaringly real. And sad.

Parents should educate their children about sex, but not by Show and Tell. A concept the Cyrus family seems to have left behind in the trailer.

Mormon Moms and Miley

Annie Leibovitz

"There is no greater reason for children to honour parents than for parents to honour children except, that while the children are young, the parents are stronger than children." Bertrand Russell

There's an old cliche that says people will do almost anything for love or money. It seems the current trend along those lines--at least in LA and Eldorado, Texas--is pimping out children.

Every time I look at that picture of 15 year old Miley Cyrus and her father Billy Ray, I gag.

I'm no prude, but don't tell me that's art, Annie Leibovitz or not. Some things are just simply wrong ... including a photo that portrays a teenage girl waay too close to her father's Achy-Breaky Heart.

Would you pose like that with Your father? Would he sit like that with you, on or off camera? Would you sanction other half naked pictures of your teenage daughter flashed all over the media?

No. Of course not.

Miley Cyrus is a young girl in a business that chews up over-exposed teen sexpots and spits them out directly into drug rehab. At only 15 she still has a chance to grow up undamaged.

Yet instead of protecting her, Miley's parents are selling her to the highest bidder. In this case, Vanity Fair. Read the article, even it's author appears sceeved out by the Cyrus clan.

Hard to top, but Tish and Billy Ray's inappropriate parenting pales in comparison to the acts of abuse and neglect by the Stepford Wives of the Yearning For Zion Ranch in the name of religious big love.


AP Photos

We don't have pictures of their Mormon child-mothers to make us gag, thank god. The mental images are bad enough. Although, maybe that teen girl in the pink dress is the smaller kid's mother. A truly horrifying thought.

Would you send your teen daughter into the bed of a man 2-3 times her age in order to get her pregnant? Would you welcome a 14-year-old girl into your bed as your "wife" and impregnate her over and over?

No. Of course not. God, I certainly hope not.

Because 31 of the 53 teen girls between 14 and 17 who were taken into state custody from that Eldorado hellhole either have children themselves or are currently pregnant.

Do you, would you, have you ever beaten your children until you broke their bones?

Because so far 41 children have been identified as having multiple bone fractures. C'mon, you watch Law and Order. That's clear evidence of child abuse.

We don't know how badly abused the adult women of this bizarre cult may have been or for how long to have treated their own children so outrageously. Perhaps they were regularly drugged without their knowledge.

For sure they've been brainwashed. But that's no excuse.

Whether it's Miley's parents or the Mormon Moms, the adults in both real life dramas are acting like children by forcing their children to act like adults. Apparently for love or money.

GenX vs Baby Boomers?

"A nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or regard that quality in its chosen leaders today - and in fact we have forgotten." John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Hillary Clinton took Pa by double digits after all and is still in the race. You didn't really expect her to bail, did you? If you've learned anything about committed Baby Boomers, you should know that only the zonked-out aging stoners among us are anywhere near ready to quit.

My GenX galpal Amy Z. Quinn, aka Citizen Mom, aka Confetti Betty, summed up the PA Primary with some pithy comments about the disconnect between GenXers and Baby Boomers vis a vis Obama and Clinton.

Putting things in prospective earlier this month, a lot of what she posits is the real deal.

As for the rest, well. Where to begin. First, I feel old, disenfranchised and just generally dissed by my GenX counterparts. It might surprise you to learn that not all of us burned our bras, some Boomers really did effect meaningful change.

We helped create, then joined and served in the Peace Corps for example... no small achievement. We boycotted not only stocks but products too. Think Chavez and grapes/lettuce. Dow Chemical. The Draft.

We didn't simply join hands, sing Kumbaya and march for Civil Rights legislation, the oldest of us helped write many of those laws. Not to mention the late great ERA for women. And hello? Rove V Wade is in our column. I could go on, but jeez, maybe I'm losing my memory.

GenX Obama-mania has had the unfortunate effect of framing all Boomers, including Hillary Clinton, as tired old gasbags whose claims of past glory and victory are vain and empty. Not freakin true, no matter how obnoxiously visible the ubiquitous shillings of aging celebs like the Ms's Keaton and Efron.

GenX, hell, Barack Obama himself, owes a large part of the current campaign--and your Freedom to Bitch and Moan--to the liberating efforts of your Boomer elders.

So instead of wailing on us, maybe some of you could review our former--and potential--achievements, challenges and resulting contributions before you consign us to useless Old Fogeydom.

Let's remember something else the Baby Boomer Generation accomplished: We. Stopped. A. War. And. We. Brought. Down. A. President. So I suggest GenXers stop making fun of us and check out a few pages from our playbook.

Every generation thinks it's reinventing the wheel. Baby Boomers actually crafted a better one. If it's getting a bit creaky, now's the time for both groups to buff it up and roll it together into the future.

Hillary. Clinton. PA and Beyond

"In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman." Margaret Thatcher

It's come down to good old PA, just as I predicted it would. Please, people, pay attention: the focus has GOT to be on who can win in November. And who can get the job done after that.

Barack Obama might sound like Dr. King but he's not Dr. King. At least not yet. When is somebody going to point out that stirring oratory doesn't equal gravitas?

Certainly not the news media, who have let the public, the country and their profession down in a way that makes me want to smack them all upside their smarmy, self-important, empty heads.

My own head is going to explode if this nonsense doesn't end soon. Read. My. Lips. ... Obama. Can't. Win.

Barack Obama's smart as a whip but not seasoned or savvy. He takes things personally. He's prickly, thin-skinned, defensive. These are not qualities we want in a president. Just look at how well they've played for the current one.

As the going's gotten tougher toward the PA primary, Obama's been over-reacting, over-slamming, over-stepping, over-spending. He claims to be above Politics As Usual but his campaign is using all the old tricks, and then some.

They have to. The only way to rise above Politics As Usual is to embrace them, do what's needed to win, then change the game once you're in charge. If only Barack Obama would admit that's exactly what he's trying to do.

Instead he talks the High Road while playing the Campaign Game. Negative opposition ads. Sniping comments. Misleading personal ads. Targeted pockets of voters. Leaked polls. Phone banks and corporate dollars in the bank.

Nobody can get elected in this country without corporate money. Not even Barack Obama and his legions of loyal college kids can change the world without accepting the reality of who runs it.

Money talks. We need a president who knows how to talk back. Manage. Maneuver. Manipulate. Win.

That person is not Barack Obama. Big rallies, big promises, big dreams ... too much sizzle, not enough steak. I know he's charismatic and exciting. But. He. Won't. Win.

Nobody who runs for elected office is perfect. Nobody. The very act of putting yourself, your family and your privacy on the line takes a cast iron ego. Nobody builds that kind of ego without getting his or her hands dirty along the way.

It's all a matter of degree. And in the voting booth, it's a matter of practicality.

A vote for Barack Obama in the Pennsylvania Primary today will help elect John McCain President of the United States next November. And insure 100 more years of war.

Hillary. Clinton.

El Sistema - Drums, Not Guns

"A child's physical poverty is overcome by the spiritual richness that music provides." Dr. José Antonio Abreu

Did you watch 60 Minutes Sunday night? If so, you were inspired and humbled by a story about a music program call El Sistema -- the system. It's credited with saving hundreds of thousands of Venezuela's cruelly disadvantaged, impoverished children by teaching them music.

Bob Simon tells how children start in El Sistema as early as 2 years old, are eventually given instruments, willingly practice for hours every day, six days a week and learn to play in orchestras instead of on the dangerous streets.

The brutal reality of the slums in which they try to stay alive is so unfair you want to scream. Not so different in America, but what do we do about it? Cut after-school and cultural enrichment programs. Our children play with guns instead of clarinets and trumpets and drums.

The best of the El Sistema musicians travel the world as the Simon Bolivar National Youth Orchestra. They've just played Carnegie Hall to cheering crowds. That's what happens everywhere they appear.

If this doesn't make you smile and cheer and even choke up a little with pride for the accomplishments of these amazing children, then you are made of stone. But you're not.

So crank up your speakers and get the hankie ready.

Show Us Your Boob Job

Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times

"I'm so scared girls look at my breast implants and think, 'To get boys, you need big boobs.' I tell them, 'Don't get it done. Those fears go away. You develop other insecurities, but breasts aren't one of them.' " Jenny Mccarthy

Okay, let's talk about boobs. No, not politicians. Actual breasts. Specifically a Spring Break contest held--where else--in a California nightclub. The prize being--what else--a boob job.

Yes, you heard right. Some teenage girl just won herself free breast augmentation surgery during a Limbo contest and a final "Bobbing for Boobs" contest at the V20 Nightclub in Long Beach, CA.

Hey, every nightclub needs a gimmick. And apparently many girls who've heard those immortal Spring Break words, "Show us your t*ts!" believe they need bigger ones.

So that's the rationale behind "The Spring Break Breast Augmentation Contest Series," tongue-twister brainchild of 23-year-old promoter Jason DeLeon. Just 23 and already a marketing genius. His parents must be so proud.

In Jason's own words, "We just thought that the No. 1 reason people come to the club is, of course, girls. So how would we attract that demographic? Plastic surgery. It's what they're into."

Jason's company--yep, he has his own company, too--will pay the plastic surgeon, Dr. Karl Nguyen for the surgery. Dr. Nguyen didn't want to be interviewed about the contest, making me wonder how his own parents might feel. Or, maybe he has a daughter with boob issues of her own.

Far too many girls today have breast, body, self-esteem issues. More than a thousand showed up for that dinky contest in Long Beach. "It's always nice to get free boobies," said contestant Tracy Boi. And "Lanle" (no last name) had her reasons for joining in: "To get boobs. More self-esteem."

Imagine if one of the TV networks grabbed--uh, purchased--Jason's idea and took it national. Our sick pop culture already displayed in magazines, TV shows, movies and the celebration of celebrity role models virtually guarantees gazillions of tiny teens with A and B cups would line up around the block for a chance to go under the knife.

That's the scary part. Kids having unnecessary elective surgery to meet some unrealistic ideal. What an image: fake breasts perched unnaturally on the chests of girls who are--no matter the fancy make-up and hottie outfits--still children. And who should be expanding their brains, not their potential sex appeal.

I'm not opposed to plastic surgery -- I believe in nose jobs, for example. If the expectations are realistic and the doctor carefully chosen, a smaller honker can make a girl look better and feel better about herself. Really. I know.

And hey, I'm a Baby Boomer, I might want some "freshening" myself someday. As an adult I have the right to make those decisions and the maturity to cope with potential mistakes. I know other adult women who've had breast surgery. Some for augmentation. Too many for mastectomy reconstruction.

They all had genuine reasons for risking surgery. Bottom line, I believe in a woman's right to choose what happens to her own body. Notice I said woman.

But c'mon, a contest offering Boobies for Babies is just plain wrong.

Gerry Ferraro Speaks Straight

"In all honesty, do you think that if he were a white male, there would be a reason for the black community to get excited for a historic first? Am I pointing out something that doesn't exist?" Geraldine Ferraro

The 2008 presidential primary campaign is turning out to be historic because of its two Democratic candidates' gender and race ... for all the wrong reasons.

Everything's fair game, especially the obvious. Did Hillary really cry and if so, are women too emotional? If Barack's middle name is Hussien, does that make him a Muslim? Who's lying to women? Who's pandering to blacks? Whose husband, wife, mother, staffer said this, that or the other?

JAYZUS!

Issues, people! Issues! What do the candidates represent and how do they characterize each other? Neither candidate is responsible for what other people posit, even on his or her behalf.

And Geraldine Ferraro, herself a history-maker as well as a person of substance, merely said out loud what most of us think, if only subliminally. Not because we're racists, because we're Realists.

The Obama machine--oh yes, he has a fully operational Machine, complete with seasoned political attack-dog advisers--saw their chance to make campaign hay and pounced. Their self-righteous bellowing --Racist! Racist!-- is just too canned and canny.

Obama's campaign manager David Axelrod is equally responsible of name-calling when he suggests there's an "insidious pattern" of racial remarks by Clinton supporters. There's the proof, right from the horse's mouth. Play the race card on your own behalf.

Gerry Ferraro is entitled to her opinions, frank and to the point as ever. When the opposition and the media started a firestorm, she replied succinctly and very well:

Dear Hillary --

I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign.

The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you.

I won't let that happen.

Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do to make this a better world for my children and grandchildren.

You have my deep admiration and respect.

Gerry

Geraldine Ferraro has my deep admiration and respect too.

If Clinton and Obama can't or won't control their handlers, they might as well be the same two white guys conducting political campaign business as usual ... crying foul at every opportunity to undermine the competition.

Which only undermines their own credibility, not only as historic trail blazers, but as potential leaders of our country.

Silda Wall Spitzer

"I don't think that it's the [First Lady] label that counts so much, it's really what gets done. And in my professional life, I've been working the last 10 years to get children and youth involved in civic engagement and giving back to the community through volunteering, and so this is a moment when I could give back in my civic capacity. So I feel that it's important." Silda Wall Spitzer

Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned today, even though his wife Silda urged him to stay in office. As did I.

New York's (former) first lady is a class act. Don't feel sorry for her. Don't fight her battles. Don't tell her what to do or where to stand or how to feel. It's insulting and demeaning to assume she's a helpless victim.

Silda Spitzer is very, very smart. She knows her husband far better than we do. Don't think for a minute she was in the dark about his randy behavior. And who knows, maybe it suited her just fine. In the end, it's none of our business.

So Governor Eliot Spitzer's got feet of clay, especially when it comes to sex. So what? Show me a man--especially one in power--who doesn't. (Okay, W's an exception).

If Spitzer's wife doesn't care, why should we? I still say Spitzer's got the right stuff. The value-add of his ability, brains, knowledge, dedication and honesty in government far outweighs the downside doings in his personal life.

We are SO freakin naive and hypocritical about sex in this country -- Right Wingnuts most of all. We love to talk about sex, hint about it, titillate ourselves with glimpses of it. And we love even more to take potshots at those who participate in any unfettered version of it.

I'm not talking about pedophile priests or congressional sexual harassers, who should be castrated ... but instead are given protection and pensions. I'm talking about a powerful guy who used a high priced call girl. Heavens to Betsy!

And really, $80,000 pales in comparison to the billions of dollars looted from our government coffers by Cheney's pals.

It's our loss that Eliot Spitzer was forced to resign--over his own wife's objections--by petty people with venal minds. And all the while the real crooks and liars are stealing us blind.

Spitzer: Show Spine, Don't Resign

"When written in Chinese, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters-one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity." John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Note to those currently salivating over the Spitzer scandal: you're all wet. We need leaders like Eliot Spitzer. He's one of the Good Guys. Most of whom, by the way, history has shown to have healthy sexual appetites.

So what?!

We're in a WAR, a recession, a nationwide health, education and welfare crisis. Americans are losing their jobs, their homes, their pensions, their children, their future. Not to mention their Human Rights ... a joke under our current administration.

Cities are exploding in violence. Schools are under growing threats of the same. Our country faces potential terrorist activities every day.

Yet somehow the FBI has time for a sex sting? Oh please. Just the place for our dwindling tax dollars - an evangelical witch hunt. Why not focus on the real evil-doers, the thieves, pedophiles, embezzlers, torturers, war-mongering profiteers?

They're the ones pointing their crooked fingers at Spitzer with hypocritical glee. And they're the ones who should read the US Constitution-and their bibles--more closely.

Eliot Spitzer was set up, his rights trampled and his privacy invaded in a political, personal and professional vendetta. Yes, he broke the law, banal and archaic though it be. His actions pale in comparison to the inalienable rights and laws broken in the quest to bring him down.

I don't care which prostitutes he paid for, how many times and in which hotels. You shouldn't either. The only people affected by his behavior are other consenting adults and members of his family.

Who did Eliot Spitzer hurt? Not innocent civilians. Not overwhelmed taxpayers. Not brave service men and women. Not children, the unemployed, the homeless, the helpless. Can W and his minions say the same?

Take your pick: sex or death? Payment for personal dalliance or political pork? From the president to the vice president to members of Congress, Republicans have made a mockery of our constitution, our country, our future. And WE have paid the price.

That any Republican would dare call for Spitzer's resignation is beyond hypocrisy. The list of Republican law-breakers still in office is long and disgraceful. The list of those who have never answered for their crimes is endless.

Eliot Spitzer should stay in office and fight the abuse of his constitutional rights. The Democratic party should champion his distinguished career of political decency, honor and accomplishment.

I don't care if he threw his white hat on a call girl's bedpost. I want to see it back on his head where it belongs.

Open Letter to MoveOn.org

"I do not believe that any political campaign justifies the declaration of a moratorium on ordinary common sense." Dwight David Eisenhower

The old cliche is true: no good deed goes unpunished. I've been a vocal supporter of MoveOn.org from day one, giving money, time and ink. Recruiting friends and strangers to join this century's most effective mobilization of resources to support progressive causes.

Not to mention to bring an end to the disastrous policies and actions of the Right Wing Congress and of course, the Bush administration.

Then MoveOn turns my praise to ashes by endorsing Barack Obama fully 7 months before the nominating convention. Not to mention 3-6 months before some of the biggest primary contests in the country.

Don't tell me "our members chose him." You sponsored an ill-conceived and divisive contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama long before all the facts were gathered, debates held and primary votes counted.

Now you're in the same category as all the "special interests" you claim to abhor. You're raising money for a candidate not yet chosen by Democratic voters. And by the way, had your kangaroo vote endorsed Hillary Clinton, I would be just as furious and disappointed.

You've had a series of impressive successes as a progressive political action group dedicated to protecting all citizens. In your own words, "The MoveOn family of organizations brings real Americans back into the political process." Really?

What about all the undecided voters, those not yet registered or supporting Hillary Clinton? It's still primary season--the Democrat's biggest contest in recent history--and instead of opening MoveOn's political doors to more Americans, you've shut a large segment of them out.

You're cutting your base apart instead of growing and uniting it.

In this critical presidential election MoveOn's most valuable contribution should be--and could have been--to increase the number and commitment of liberal voters and to unite Democrats behind the nominated candidate so we can Throw The Bush Party Out.

Instead, MoveOn sold out. Your pandering support of the Barack Obama Message Machine does a great disservice to your current and future constituency -- and to the Democratic party.

What happens if Hillary Clinton becomes the nominee? MoveOn will have severely damaged its credibility just when it's needed most -- to defeat the dangerously viable candidacy of John McCain.

I'll still be volunteering, donating and voting for liberal candidates and issues, but not through MoveOn.org. Please don't send me another piece of mail about Barack Obama, any other candidates or legislative issues.

I can no longer trust MoveOn.org's judgement and actions. Especially not your commitment to me and to the future of progressive causes.

Joe Wilson's Case For Hillary

thesituationist.files.wordpress.com

"Contrary to the myth of [Obama's] campaign, 2008 is not the year for transcendental transformation." former ambassador Joseph Wilson

Joe Wilson, who's been there done that (think Plamegate), goes on:

The task for the next administration will be to repair the damage done by eight years of radical rule. And the choice for Americans is clear: four more years of corrupt Republican rule, senseless wars, evisceration of the Constitution, emptying of the national treasury -- or rebuilding our government and our national reputation, piece by piece. Obama's overtures to Republicans, or "Obamacans" as the Senator calls them, is a substitute for true national unity based on a substantive program. His marginal appeals have marginally helped him in caucuses in Republican states that Democrats won't win in the general election. But his vapid rhetoric will not withstand the winds of November. His efforts will be correctly seen by the Republican leadership as a sign of weakness to be exploited. While disaffected Democrats may long for comity in our politics after years of being harangued and belittled by the right wing echo chamber, the Rovians currently promoting Obama are looking to destroy him should he become the nominee. Obama's claim to float uniquely above the fray and avoid polarization will be short-lived. He is no less mortal than any other Democrat -- Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, John Kerry -- all untouched at the beginning of their campaigns and all mauled by the end. We should never forget recent history.

Wilson makes a far more informed and cogent case than I ever could.

Read the full piece. Please. And tell me you agree. Joseph C. Wilson: Battle-Tested - Politics on The Huffington Post

If you disagree, tell me why. I don't want slogans. I don't want pie-in-the-sky rhetoric. Or empty promises. Or bullsh*t about Bill.

I want facts. Details. A defense of Obama stripped of hype and meaningless buzz-phrases about hope and change and dreams.Take Wilson's reasoning apart and show me where he's wrong.

You can't. Because he's not.

Super Tuesday - Not A Game

HillaryClinton.com - Welcome

"I will fight against the division politics of revenge and retribution. If you put me to work for you, I will work to lift people up, not put them down." Hillary Clinton

Almost eight years ago, millions of Americans heard a clarion call from a new candidate with a strong voice, a different message, fresh perspective. They believed he would provide a clean departure from "politics as usual." That he would change their world for the better.

Those voters were Republicans, evangelical Christians and Right Wing radicals who sincerely thought George W. Bush was their next best hope.

Democrats and Independents must not make that same mistake about Barack Obama.

Barack Obama and George W. Bush are light years apart politically. But the downside risk of their leadership is the same.

Mr. Bush had a vision for change, but he didn't have a plan. His political inexperience seemed a plus, but he didn't have a clue. Yes he overcame a bad-boy past, but he continues to display a rash streak of immaturity. He's thin-skinned, bad tempered and lacking in objectivity, taking far too many global issues personally.

Mr. Obama raises expectations with his charismatic message, his near evangelical zeal. He can raise the roof with his oratory. But style does not equal substance. Barack Obama has bold ideas but no realistic plans. He has a stirring message but no real clue. He is brash, prickly, unsteady, unsure, untested.

Eerily reminiscent of George W. Bush. Which worries me a lot.

Unlike Bush, Obama is genuinely smart, even gifted, he just needs time. He has vast potential, will likely become a great leader one day. He seems destined to be, but not yet, not now.

Barack Obama's greatest gift to the 2008 Presidential Campaign, and to the country, is his passionate call to young people to get involved in the process. It's a critical message and will make our country and our future stronger.

But let's remember that while youthful excitement is easily created, commitment is less easily maintained. Anyone who has or knows kids between 18 and 25 can attest to how ephemeral their judgement is, how the very idea of dissent can be appealing for its own sake.

America's college students and 20-somethings work hard, play hard, think and reason, make good choices and bad. There's nothing wrong with that, it's how they amass experience, achieve growth and maturity.

What's bothers me is the so-called high-minded Obama campaign's cynical manipulation of celebrities and youthful supporters to generate media boost and momentum. Oprah, okay, I get that.

But the Kennedys! They're no better than the Bush possee. Self-serving, self-aggrandising, selfish. Senator Ted lost his chance to become president and hates Bill Clinton -- what a great reason to choose Obama as his surrogate

Obama-worship has gotten out of hand, it's affecting those of my generation who think they can regain their own youth and enthusiasm by joining the parade.

We adults can't let jingoism, a sudden sense of the seductive group dynamic and infatuation with a youthful, cool standard-bearer deflect us from the goal of electing the right grown up for the right grown up reasons. Not to mention a Democrat.

America needs a solid, mature adult in the White House. We need to be certain that the President/Commander in Chief/Leader of the Free World knows what to do and how to do it under any situation. We need to be sure our president can handle pressure, evaluate, prioritize and get the job done.

Hillary Clinton is the smartest, surest, most able, definitely the most tested person in the room. She's hard working, self-confident, tough and seasoned by time, circumstance, experience and humility.

We need her strength, her resilience, her intelligence, her world view, her contacts, her credentials, her decisive capability to listen, review, negotiate, determine a course of action and lead.

And we need her ability to defeat the Republican nominee. Unless we want President McCain in the White House.