How much damage will Clinton do before she folds?

In the wake of ten straight losses, Clinton's going to need some miracles to win, and Mike Huckabee's already ahead of her in line for divine intervention. But the question is how much damage she'll do to Obama and the Democratic chances before she quits.

If the fight goes to the convention, we know the answer: Unless she totally routs Obama in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania, her sole remaining path to the nomination depends on convincing the superdelegates to overturn the will of the voters, and convincing the credentials committee to honor the problematic Michigan and Florida elections. So she'll have to practically destroy the party to save it, or more accurately to save herself. Assuming a possible breaking sex scandal doesn't bring down McCain, he already beats Clinton by 12 points in the latest poll, while Obama defeats him by 7. If the young voters, independents, and African Americans who Obama's enlisted in droves stay home in November because they feel they've been betrayed, Clinton's chances would be slim to none.

"Torture Memo" author used health care statute to form legal basis for waterboarding

John Yoo, the author of the infamous August 1, 2002 "torture memo" that formed the legal basis for so-called "enhanced" interrogation techniques against high-level terrorist detainees, used a statute governing health benefits when he provided the White House with a legal opinion defining torture, according to a former Justice Department official.

Yoo's legal opinion stated that unless the amount of pain administered to a detainee results in injury "such as death, organ failure, or serious impairment of body functions" than the interrogation technique could not be defined as torture. Waterboarding, a brutal and painful technique in which a prisoner believes he is drowning, therefore was not considered to be torture.

Jack Goldsmith, the former head of the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel, said that Yoo, a former OLC attorney who now teaches at the University of California at Berkeley, arrived at that definition by relying on statute written in 2000 related to health benefits.

Will Clinton's advisors tell her the hard truths?

I know it seems a geological eon ago, but do you remember the resignation of  Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle? In the wake of Clinton's major Wisconsin defeat, I remembered how Doyle never told Clinton about the campaign's massive hemorrhaging of cash. And how Clinton similarly kept Solis in the dark when she took out her $5 million personal loan. Given that Hillary Clinton's campaign has now been reduced to a nonstop mantra of "ready to lead on day one," it made me wonder what that incident reveals about her competence, transparency and trust—the essence of her ability to lead.

You are invited to join Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman’s radio show

We’re recording live at 2:00pm every Saturday at Victorian’s Midnight Café, 251 W. Fifth at Neil. Join the audience, grab a mike, let your voice be heard. Bob and Harvey are joined by Andrew Davis and Rob Jones for some political talk, discussion, interviews, commentary, and music. Victorian’s Midnight Café offers a great breakfast, brunch, lunch and drinks for your pleasure.

Hear our archives at Free Press Multimedia.

Show trials

http://mattbors.com

The Hillary nutcracker

Oh, come on, do we need this? I know, I know, it’s cute. STAINLESS STEEL THIGHS! FEEL THE SQUEEZE!

Perhaps the fact that a major party is about to nominate either a female or an African-American male to be president of the United States is so lacking in controversy, so quietly ho-hum, that a little adolescent gender humor on the side is no big deal, either.

Enter — stage right? stage left? — the Hillary Nutcracker, a hot-selling novelty product of the 2008 political season that has gotten some fawning and even enthusiastic press, with right-wing MSNBC pundit Tucker Carlson so moved by the nutcracker he all but confessed his castration complex regarding Ms. Clinton, all in fun, of course. This is political discourse in America.

Atttention Cuyahoga County Residents: You must see this presentation on computerized voting machines!

Patrick McDaniel, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering of Penn State University gives a must-see presentation on the perils of computer voting. Prof. McDaniel led the academic team that exposed vulnerabilities of the computer voting systems in Ohio as part of Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's Everest Project. The Free Press highly recommends his presentation for all election protection advocates and anyone who wants the facts about how a voting machine is easily hacked.

Details of the event are below:

Thursday, Feb. 21
Strosacker Auditorium
Case Western Reserve University
2125 Adelbert Rd.
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
5 - 7 p.m.
1-800-SOS-OHIO or by email at everest@sos.state.oh.us.

"No Nukes" Action for Ohio's State Energy Bill

Right now, there is an opportunity to potentially have a major impact on the energy legislation. Some are saying that at this point, House Speaker Jon Husted is leaning towards leaving nuclear energy out of the substitute bill he is drafting.  From what we are hearing, he simply doesn’t think that nuclear power makes economic sense.  To increase the likelihood that nuclear is left out of speaker’s substitute bill – it would be great to generate calls and letters to Husted’s office urging him to leave coal and nuclear energy out of the renewable standard.  

Suggest calls or letters start by thanking the Speaker for his support of renewable energy – treat him as an ally.  As with other outreach, we should also include energy efficiency in the messaging.   

Speeches

http://mattbors.com

How sick of it are you?

We have screamed at the heavens and cried bitter tears.  We've marched and picketed and gone to jail.  And we are sick.  Sick of the corruption…sick of the liars…sick of this war! 

On March 19, the day the U.S. invaded Iraq five years ago, we'll be sick of it yet again.  But on that revolting day we can do something nonviolently revolutionary.  We can withdraw our consent from this sick system – by calling in sick. 

People are signing up to do just that at the "Sick Of It Day" website.  With passion and eloquence they're saying why they are "sick of it."  Listen:

"Because over a million innocents have died. Because the Democrats, who promised to end the war, have been in control of the budget now for almost a year and a half, and they have continued to fund the war. Because I'm disgusted with Bush, Cheney and the Democrats."  David Lindorff, Ambler PA

"The lies, the deaths, the brutality, the sheer hubris and arrogance, and the obscene profits from it all."  Ron Jacobs, Asheville NC

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