~ Seems clear enough that the Clintonistas, not the Obamites, are playing dirty politics at this stage. BET founder Robert L. Johnson, one of the most cynical operators around, has lined up behind Clinton and touched off a firestorm with comments that seemed inteded to smear Obama. Johnson’s unsavory record as a propagandist for Social Security privatization, estate tax repeal and other pet projects of the Republican right are now being widely cited. Clinton an agent of change? That line’s getting harder to sustain.
~ There’s been much talk of Michael Bloomberg’s potential Independent candidacy, but Marc Cooper notes another useless third-party development: the Green Party primary bid of Cynthia McKinney, a water-carrier for the “9/11 Truth” movement and a slinger of unrestrained anti-Obama mud. Comparing him to Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Ward Connerly, McKinney has insinuated that Obama is part of the fruits of COINTELPRO. “Anyone with even vaguely progressive inclinations ought to toss tomatoes at a charlatan like McKinney rather than applaud her,” writes Marc. “She’s an embarrassment and a fraud.” Yes indeed. I gathered signatures for Ralph Nader’s Green Party run in 1996, and I’m ashamed to see how far (and fast) they’ve fallen.
~ Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez would like to be seen as a level-headed mediator between FARC guerrillas and the Colombian government, in the wake of last week’s release of two FARC-held captives. But Chávez is in fact an unabashed supporter of the FARC kidnappers and extortionists: “…they are insurgent forces that have a political project, that have a Bolivarian project that is respected here.” It’s long been obvious that FARC is a criminal gang, operating with absolute disregard for international human rights norms, if I may understate the case. But given Chávez’s outspoken friendship with world leaders like Robert Mugabe, Alexander Lukashenko, Fidel Castro and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, this is no surprise. Sadly, soft-headed lefties continue to fall for his political intrigues.
Comments are closed.