The New Poster Child for Unqualified Candidates:”Senator” Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg?

Earlier today, I found out that Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, the 51-year-old environmental lawyer, daughter of President John F. Kennedy and Jackie Onassis (and sister of handsome John Kennedy, Jr.) who has shied away from the political arena for most of her life may be considered to replace Sen. Hillary Clinton for Senate seat. 

Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg with Obama during 2008 Campaign

The niece of Edward and Robert Kennedy. The powerful Kennedy clan is fully behind her rising to the office previously held by her uncle, Robert Kennedy who held the New York seat from 1965 until his assassination in 1968. 

Once Clinton is confirmed to President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet, New York Gov. David Paterson will appoint someone to fill the seat for two years. Democratic officials say Caroline Kennedy has spoken to New York Gov. David Paterson about the Senate seat. Paterson’s office says that the governor had been approached by several candidates for the job but that he would not discuss private conversations.

Of course, since she took on a much more high-profile role during the presidential campaign and, if she does it, would be more than New York’s junior Senator; she’d have closer ties to the Obama White House than any of her colleagues, a direct line to the East Wing.

Ok, so she´s educated. But what are her qualifications, except being the daughter of a President as a child? She’ll probably last two years, to be replaced by future Senator Rudy Giuliani (he has started to schmooze to Obama with his praises). How hypocritical is the media praising Caroline´s interest, while trashing Gov. Sarah Palin´s credentials? Excuse me that many of us have not gone to the famous liberal Harvard University for the elites. 

I am not complaining. In fact, this is AWESOME NEWS. Give the seat to Caroline. If the Dems appoint Caroline to the Senate, Sarah Palin’s credibility will earn massive points! Palin ACTUALLY has experience! If this happens, anytime a liberal or a media rep (and SNL)  mock Sarah’s qualifications, intelligence, or any other quality, the other side can simply point to Caroline and say, “Yeah, well, let’s talk about Caroline.” I mean, let’s face it…if you’ve ever heard Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg speak (without a script–and most of these politicians who were hyped up…ehrm…), then you know she’s not a very bright woman. And if we’re being totally honest she’s really that attractive, either. So wouldn’t it be perfectly delicious if the Dems unconsciously replaced Sarah Palin as the next national laughingstock with the last surviving member of JFK’s family? *Let me start my childhood signing of the cross á la Catholic*

Sarah Palin is smarter than what the media gave her credit for. But then the media thought that Ronald Reagan was stupid, but Reagan outsmarted them every time. Let´s face it, the global financial crisis were  handled by Harvard and other Ivy League alums. We all know that classrooms and real world are VERY different. So pedigrees and grad school doesn´t really mean a lot when it comes to crisis. It is all about character.

Let us see how “fair” the media will treat her, I hope that they give her as much attention as they did to Sarah.

America, welcome to the  new poster child for unqualified and incompetence: Senator Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg!

Obama´s First 100 Days: Homage to Islam and Pander to the Jobless

I was watching Wolf Blitzer´s Situation Room on CNN briefly last night (sorry, no Fox news in Europe) and noticed for the first time that one of the “best political team on TV” made an honest unbiased comment. Campbell Brown (whom I enjoy watching during Elections coverage), made a remark about how Obama´s cautiousness during the Primaries is now reflected on the so-called 2.5 M jobs he promised to create. Now, Obama said 2.5M jobs to be “saved”. Like she said, it doesn´t really mean anything. In my world, it just meant, he pandered just like most politicians who say what the voter wants to hear. 

THE AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT

GM, Chrysler and Ford are now doing another run to convince U.S. Congress to give them a $34bn Bailout. Their argument is that if they don´t get the help, America will just throw $300bn development and investments made in the past. It is a very tough decision to make. If you help them, they are still going to be doing the same structure and if not…well, no one wants to know. But the reality is, with the global financial crisis, people are not buying cars. As of today, HONDA even pulls out of Formula One racing since it is a luxury item for them to spend $300M with 700 employees (snaps for them!). I personally have not seen what these Big Three Automakers are proposing on paper (yet), but there needs to be serious cutbacks. 

Clinton Appointed as Secretary of State

Then you have Obama switching from creation of jobs to saving jobs. The man has never made a decision in the Senate and just ticked a lot of PRESENT on bills. What do you expect?

THE APPOINTMENTS

He keeps saying he is bringing change to Washington, so far, he has put most Clintonistas and to top that cake, he selects Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State (with Bill tagging along). Smartly stupid, I´d say.  The saying, “Keep your enemies closer” is definitely taken into new heights.

SPEECH IN CAIRO, EGYPT…MAYBE?

In an effort to mend rifts between the U.S. and the Muslim world, Obama is seriously considering making a major foreign policy speech in an Islamic capital, CAIRO, Egypt. My initial reaction is WHO is paying for this? His campaign? How is delivering a speech somewhere mend deep-seated issues between countries? I find it quite naïve if he does this without a plan. This is not anymore campaigning. But this here sounds like a photo-op for me.

But the question really is that why Obama feels it necessary to give a speech so early in his new administration. During the presidential campaign Obama indicated U.S. foreign policy was too skewed in favor of Israel and that he would seek to balance that approach in his administration. But then when McCain painted him as naïve about the Middle East, he then strongly backed Israel in his first foreign policy speech when he addressed American Israel Public Affairs Committee. 

Using process of elimination, I find it hilarious how they chose this place. Obama’s foreign policy advisers ruled out Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and other capitals around the Persian Gulf. If he does the  speech in Baghdad, it would appear to validate the Iraq war (which he of course opposed).

Going to Damascus, the Syrian capital would be rewarding them (not a good idea to start with),  

Tehran in Iran? Haha, too soon for tea and urugula.

Amman, Jordan? They are not interested as they did the show their before.  

Ankara, Turkey? Too boring.

How about  Islamabad, Pakistan? Well, after his speeches about Pakistan during elections, I don´t think he will come out alive. 

Ramallah on the West Bank would be futile because Palestinians have been demanding Jerusalem as their capital.

Jakarta, Indonesia? Obama´s Childhood place? Good for him, not cool enough for the media.

A MUST REASON

Remember when he kept dodging he was a secret Muslim? (Take it easy, Ret. Gen. Colin Powell. I am not anti-Muslim. I got a cousin who is one and wonderful Muslim friends). The truth is, Obama had been raised a Muslim and converted to Christianity after meeting the Rev. Jeremiah Wright in his 20s after he moved to Chicago.

 

Obama was born to a Kenyan father who was a Muslim. His mother divorced this man and later remarried an Indonesian muslim who became Obama’s stepfather. The couple moved to Indonesia with the young Obama. There he was registered at two schools as a Muslim student, Barry Saetoro.

 

Obama´s Indonesian School Record

In his autobiography, “Dreams From My Father,” Obama mentions studying the Koran and describes the public school as “a Muslim school.” 

My own process of elimination? Obama wants to be pay homage to his roots. It´s perfectly fine for me, but it would be better to be upfront and honest to the American people what exactly he has in his head of his. As hired CEO of the Free World, he needs to be accountable.

2008 U.S. Presidential Elections Synopsis Part 2

The 2008 U.S. election proved that a new dawn for politics has arrived. We now have seen the power of web 2.0 and how it can shape a political landscape. We also saw how the Millenials are engaged. How did this all happen? The answer is two words: MARKETING and MONEY. The rule of the game (anywhere) is the one with the bigger war chest, wins. But there is something else about this election that was also not seen in a long time: STRONG MEDIA BIAS.

We can go on and on (which I will because there will be other things I will be ranting about this election), but for the sake of this page, I can safely say that Obama won because he vastly outspent McCain. Even Chris Cilizza of Washington Post (one of the newspapers who endorsed Obama) agrees with many of us who observed the political circus. 

According to Nielsen Company, from June through November, Obama ran 419,667 ads in local markets while McCain ran 269,992 ads — a difference of nearly 150,000 ads. In the final month of the election, the ad difference was even greater with Obama’s campaign running 210,425 local ads as compared to just more than 97,000 for McCain. Obama also had one-and-a-half times as many spot TV ads than John McCain during the general election season (6/08 to 11/08), double when he started running ads in January during the Primaries.

SPOT TV ADS: June-Nov 2008

Barack Obama	419,667
John McCain	269,992

 

Local Ad Spending by Both McCain and Obama

Other notable campaign facts from Nielsen’s research

• Obama’s ads were on the airwaves over twice as much as McCain’s in the final month before the election (210,245 vs. 97,023 ad buys).
• McCain took early advantage of Obama’s long primary battle with Hillary Clinton, which ended on June 3rd. McCain bought over three and a half times more spot TV ads than Obama in June (26,594 to 7,251), the only month that McCain beat his opponent in that category.
• McCain made a major push with national buys in September, out placing Obama 10 to 1 in cable and network ad buys.
• The two candidates alone combined for almost 850,000 total ad buys dating back to January.

 

Here are some statistics presented by ISU Statistical Graphics Working Group: 

 

Daily Tracking versus Actual Popular Vote From ISU Statistical Graphics Working Group

This figure show results of the daily tracking polls, and the actual popular vote (blue). Main pollsters are colored, so that relative bias can be seen. The trend line is a less smooth through all points. 

 

State tracking results from ISU Statistical Graphics Working Group

The result for each state (blue, red) and polls for each state over the week leading up to the election are shown as a dot plot. From top to bottom, the order of the states is from most Republican to most Democratic.

Median is represented as a black dot, all polls as large white dots, and median of last week’s as a grey dot. Vertical lines mark 5% points difference. 

 

Obama tracking results from ISU Statistical Graphics Working Group

 

McCain tracker from ISU Statistical Graphics Working Group

These figures show the daily tracking results separately for Obama and McCain, and the actual result. Tracking polls low-balled the McCain %.

So, how fair was U.S. Elections this time compared to the 2000 or 2004?

Lesson learned here is that politics still truly local and money greases the machines. It is a dirty world we live and work in.

2008 U.S. Presidential Elections Synopsis Part 1

Fourty-eight days to January 20, 2009, before the spectacular fanfare of the historic 44th United States Presidential Inauguration, when an African-American takes center-stage and recite the oath on first entering office specified in Article II, Section 1, of the U.S. Constitution:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect,  and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

The theme for the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama is “A New Birth of Freedom,” which honors the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. People scrambling to get the hottest “non-existent” tickets in town. Yes, “non-existent” because they are not issued yet and there are scammers selling them for $1000+ already. So if you contemplate of buying them through the web, STOP IT NOW.  These tickets are FREE and you get them from any U.S. Congress and Senate Officials and usually they are only allotted with a couple of hundred tickets depending on their constituents. Some public officials have even started doing lottery to be fair. You cannot get these if you are not American constituent in that district that the particular elected official (or ask your American friends).

Washington D.C. is expecting about 1M visitors and a massive planning is taking place to keep the city in order. All this hysteria because people want to hear the man who used a Kennedy-King-Lincoln-esque platform and echoed throughout his campaign:

“I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.” Excerpt from A More Perfect Union

 

Electoral Vote tally

We sat with astonishment to the meteoric rise of this obscured Arab-cheered Messiah 46-year-old political virgin to become the first African-American to capture DNC nomination. (Thanks to the Iowa Caucus and Obama´s brilliant grassroots strategy through David Axelrod´s brainchild, he surprisingly rose above Clinton) Weeks later, he wins an overwhelming mandate of 365 Electoral votes versus the 173 that McCain  got.  World Leaders like Merkel, Sarcozy, Brown (pro-Americans to Obama´s advantage) reacted warmly and  with expectations,  tests and warnings. 

2008 U.S. Presidential Elections County by County Results

The 2008 U.S. Elections cracked a lot of ceilings. Both GOP and DNC parties made historical marks with their two women, Sen. Hillary Clinton (NY) and Gov. Sarah Palin (AL). The former proving to be a formidable candidate with 18M behind her and the latter, a female maverick that became GOP´s first female for top ticket. Then you have the massive money that got poured in through Obama´s internet fundraising, garnering aroung $650M in total which afforded him to release a 30 minute infomercial in all major networks. 

The RESULT: The longest, historic, exciting, most expensive U.S. Election ever!

The Gospel of Obama

And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.

The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.

When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?”

In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites.

And so it was, in the fullness of time, before the harvest month of the appointed year, the Child ventured forth – for the first time – to bring the light unto all the world.

He travelled fleet of foot and light of camel, with a small retinue that consisted only of his loyal disciples from the tribe of the Media. He ventured first to the land of the Hindu Kush, where the

Taliban had harboured the viper of al-Qaeda in their bosom, raining terror on all the world.

And the Child spake and the tribes of Nato immediately loosed the Caveats that had previously bound them. And in the great battle that ensued the forces of the light were triumphant. For as long as the Child stood with his arms raised aloft, the enemy suffered great blows and the threat of terror was no more.

From there he went forth to Mesopotamia where he was received by the great ruler al-Maliki, and al-Maliki spake unto him and blessed his Sixteen Month Troop Withdrawal Plan even as the imperial warrior Petraeus tried to destroy it.

And lo, in Mesopotamia, a miracle occurred. Even though the Great Surge of Armour that the evil Bush had ordered had been a terrible mistake, a waste of vital military resources and doomed to end in disaster, the Child’s very presence suddenly brought forth a great victory for the forces of the light.

And the Persians, who saw all this and were greatly fearful, longed to speak with the Child and saw that the Child was the bringer of peace. At the mention of his name they quickly laid aside their intrigues and beat their uranium swords into civil nuclear energy ploughshares.

From there the Child went up to the city of Jerusalem, and entered through the gate seated on an ass. The crowds of network anchors who had followed him from afar cheered “Hosanna” and waved great palm fronds and strewed them at his feet.

In Jerusalem and in surrounding Palestine, the Child spake to the Hebrews and the Arabs, as the Scripture had foretold. And in an instant, the lion lay down with the lamb, and the Israelites and Ishmaelites ended their long enmity and lived for ever after in peace.

As word spread throughout the land about the Child’s wondrous works, peoples from all over flocked to hear him; Hittites and Abbasids; Obamacons and McCainiacs; Cameroonians and Blairites.

And they told of strange and wondrous things that greeted the news of the Child’s journey. Around the world, global temperatures began to decline, and the ocean levels fell and the great warming was over.

The Great Prophet Algore of Nobel and Oscar, who many had believed was the anointed one, smiled and told his followers that the Child was the one generations had been waiting for.

And there were other wonderful signs. In the city of the Street at the Wall, spreads on interbank interest rates dropped like manna from Heaven and rates on credit default swaps fell to the ground as dead birds from the almond tree, and the people who had lived in foreclosure were able to borrow again.

Black gold gushed from the ground at prices well below $140 per barrel. In hospitals across the land the sick were cured even though they were uninsured. And all because the Child had pronounced it.

And this is the testimony of one who speaks the truth and bears witness to the truth so that you might believe. And he knows it is the truth for he saw it all on CNN and the BBC and in the pages of The New York Times.

Then the Child ventured forth from Israel and Palestine and stepped onto the shores of the Old Continent. In the land of Queen Angela of Merkel, vast multitudes gathered to hear his voice, and he preached to them at length.

But when he had finished speaking his disciples told him the crowd was hungry, for they had had nothing to eat all the hours they had waited for him.

And so the Child told his disciples to fetch some food but all they had was five loaves and a couple of frankfurters. So he took the bread and the frankfurters and blessed them and told his disciples to feed the multitudes. And when all had eaten their fill, the scraps filled twelve baskets.

Thence he travelled west to Mount Sarkozy. Even the beauteous Princess Carla of the tribe of the Bruni was struck by awe and she was great in love with the Child, but he was tempted not.

On the Seventh Day he walked across the Channel of the Angles to the ancient land of the hooligans. There he was welcomed with open arms by the once great prophet Blair and his successor, Gordon the Leper, and his successor, David the Golden One.

And suddenly, with the men appeared the archangel Gabriel and the whole host of the heavenly choir, ranks of cherubim and seraphim, all praising God and singing: “Yes, We Can.”

Borrowed from Gerard Baker from Times UK

Obama’s ’Change’: Recycling Clintonistas

What’s with Obama’s choice of old-time Clinton cronies and recycled Washington insiders to run the transition to his new politics of change?

Can’t the anti-Washington-insiders and the president-elect find anyone who isn’t a Beltway has-been?

Judging by the appointments to his transition committee and leaks about possible top staff and Cabinet choices, Obama appears to be practicing the politics of status quo, not the politics of change.

Obama based his innovative campaign on an emphatic and convincing commitment to change the culture of Washington and bring in new people, new ideas, and new ways of doing business.

But now, Obama has definitely changed his tune. As president-elect, he’s brought back the old Washington hacks, party regulars, and Clinton sycophants that he so frequently disparaged. Like Jimmy Carter, the last president who ran as an outsider, Obama has reached out to the same old folks who dominate the Democratic Party and represent the status quo.

His transition committee looks like a reunion of the Clinton administration. No new ideas of how to reform the system there. The chairman, John Podesta, was Clinton’s chief of staff. He presided over outrageous last-minute pardons and his style is strictly inside-the-Beltway and make-no-waves.

Then there’s Carol Browner, Clinton’s competent former EPA administrator who became the consummate Washington insider. She’s Madeline Albright’s partner and recently married mega-lobbyist and former Congressman Tom Downey. During the uproar over Dubai taking over U.S. ports, Browner brought Downey to meet with Sen. Chuck Schumer to plead Dubai’s case. Downey was paid half a million dollars to push Dubai’s position. He’s also a lobbyist for Fannie Mae, paid half a million to try to cover their rears on the subprime mortgage mess. Is this change?

Federico Pena was Clinton’s secretary of transportation and of energy. The president felt he was unduly soft on Air Florida after a crash and lost confidence in him. Now he’s back as a transition committee member.

Bill Daley, Clinton’s former secretary of commerce and the brother of the mayor of Chicago, is the epitome of the old Democratic establishment. Clinton appointed him to the Fannie Mae board and his son worked as a lobbyist for the agency. Aren’t these the kind of folks that Obama ran against?

Larry Summers, president of Harvard and former Clinton secretary of the treasury is not exactly an outsider either. He’s also alienated more than a few with his bizarre suggestion that women may be genetically inferior to men in math and science.

Susan Rice, assistant secretary of state under Clinton advised John Kerry and Mike Dukakis. Does that tell you enough?

Obama has named one of his big bundlers — Michael Froman, an executive at Citigroup. Is this supposed to symbolize change?

Obama’s choice of a spokesperson for the transition is also surprising; she is definitely not the face of reason and new politics. Stephanie Cutter is the brash and combative former Clinton, Kerry, and Ted Kennedy mouthpiece. The liberal DailyKos.com once described Cutter as “a moron to the nth degree” when she tried unsuccessfully to force The New York Times’ Adam Nagourney to treat her unsolicited e-mail criticizing Howard Dean as “background” without mentioning her name.

Speaking of brash, Rahm Emanuel, the new White House chief of staff, makes Cutter look timid. Rahm is also a former Clinton White House staffer — and a very obnoxious one. He spent his White House years leaking to The Washington Post whenever he didn’t like what the president was doing. Even Bill Clinton stopped trusting him. Any hopes of Obama keeping his commitment to reach across the aisle would go right out the window with Rahm’s appointment. Instead of extending a hand to the opposition, it would be like raising just one finger. And Rahm’s strident demeanor laced with the ‘F’ word in every sentence will do little to elevate the bipartisan dialogue in Washington.

Christopher Edley, another member of the transition team, is dean of the Berkeley Law School. He was a member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission under Clinton, and his wife, Maria Echaveste was Clinton’s deputy chief of staff.

Transition committee staffer Christine Varney was a federal trade commissioner under Clinton and worked in the White House.

Throughout the early debates, Obama criticized Hillary Clinton as part of the inside-the Beltway establishment that needed to go. But now he’s reaching out to these exact same folks. Some change.