16. Can you imagine what would happen if a blogger had said he was going to take a pitchfork to the convention if Obama went after the pledged delegates?

Davidg at 10:33AM on Mar 11th 2008

17. THATS HOW THEY OPERATE AND THATS WHY SPINZER OF NEW YORK ENDORSED HER. SHE ALSO HAS A DOUBLE STANDARD HER AND BILL CAN BRAKE THE LAW BUT OTHERS CAN NOT.

ricci at 4:49AM on Mar 12th 2008

18. Obama is the voice for all of those who demand to be listened to, even though we do not have much to say.

Pat Mallory at 10:57AM on Mar 11th 2008

19. YOU ALL ARE GOING TO BE CRYING AFTER YOU VOTE OBAMA OR MCCAIN IN AND WE SIT HERE FOR YEARS WITH HIGH GAS PRICES AND A SINKING ECONOMY.
HILLARY CAN TURN IT AROUND.
8 YEARS OF GREAT ECONOMY DURING THE CLINTON YEARS SPEAK OF HER EXPERIENCE WHETHER FIRST HAND AS SENATOR OR SECOND HAND AS FIRST LADY.
OBAMA AND MCCAIN HAVE LITTLE OR NO ECONOMIC BACKGROUND.

new2008america at 11:08AM on Mar 11th 2008

20. Mr. Avery - Your incoherent rambling makes about as much sense as our energy policy. Why are gas prices going up? Supply and demand. And it's Democrats that have prevented us from developing domestic oil sources. In fact, people like Al Gore have said in the recent past, that it would be great if gas prices could rise so we could pay a "real" price just like Europe. Well, he got his wish.

Dave at 11:07AM on Mar 11th 2008

21. And if Obama wins the nomination my army of Clinton supporters will sit out the election. Without us Obama loses. I'm sure Obama supporters, especially African Americans, will do the same if Hillary gets the nomination.......so lets just get used to President McCain.

Danyal at 11:37AM on Mar 11th 2008

22. Cenk, you've ranted and raged that Hillary will steal the pledged votes from Barack, just how will she do that or will she even have to? This is what will happen: The party leaders will meet in some back room with Hillary and Barack. The party will have all the facts and figures on both camps. It gets thrown into a computer and out will come the name of the best choice to win over McCain. If either Hillary or Barack don't like the choice the computer made and says they will continue to go for the nomination, either will be shot in the head and buried in an anonymous grave.
If Hillary is shot, her disaperence will be explained that she joined a covernent to become a Nun. If Barack is shot his whereabouts will be explained, he joined the Peace Corp. under an assumed name and nobody knows exactly where he is. So, Cenk you can leave the pitchfork home unless you feel some Republicans will try and sneak into the convention to disrupt the process.

David Rosenberg at 3:14PM on Mar 13th 2008

23. Oh, I just LOVE it when even the Young Turds start devouring their own! Cenk is a friggin' DUMBASS trying to use the current chaos in the democrat party to smear republicans. This guy couldn't make a living in the real world and if George Soros wasn't paying him for anal sex, he'd have to survive from collecting aluminum cans.

URKiddinMee at 11:59AM on Mar 11th 2008

24. To: Interested Parties
From: Greg Craig, former director, Policy Planning Office, U.S. State Department
RE: Senator Clinton’s claim to be experienced in foreign policy: Just words?
DA: March 11, 2008
When your entire campaign is based upon a claim of experience, it is important that you have evidence to support that claim. Hillary Clinton’s argument that she has passed “the Commander- in-Chief test” is simply not supported by her record.

There is no doubt that Hillary Clinton played an important domestic policy role when she was First Lady. It is well known, for example, that she led the failed effort to pass universal health insurance. There is no reason to believe, however, that she was a key player in foreign policy at any time during the Clinton Administration. She did not sit in on National Security Council meetings. She did not have a security clearance. She did not attend meetings in the Situation Room. She did not manage any part of the national security bureaucracy, nor did she have her own national security staff. She did not do any heavy-lifting with foreign governments, whether they were friendly or not. She never managed a foreign policy crisis, and there is no evidence to suggest that she participated in the decision-making that occurred in connection with any such crisis. As far as the record shows, Senator Clinton never answered the phone either to make a decision on any pressing national security issue – not at 3 AM or at any other time of day.

When asked to describe her experience, Senator Clinton has cited a handful of international incidents where she says she played a central role. But any fair-minded and objective judge of these claims – i.e., by someone not affiliated with the Clinton campaign – would conclude that Senator Clinton’s claims of foreign policy experience are exaggerated.

Northern Ireland:
Senator Clinton has said, “I helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland.” It is a gross overstatement of the facts for her to claim even partial credit for bringing peace to Northern Ireland. She did travel to Northern Ireland, it is true. First Ladies often travel to places that are a focus of U.S. foreign policy. But at no time did she play any role in the critical negotiations that ultimately produced the peace. As the Associated Press recently reported, “[S]he was not directly involved in negotiating the Good Friday peace accord.” With regard to her main claim that she helped bring women together, she did participate in a meeting with women, but, according to those who know best, she did not play a pivotal role. The person in charge of the negotiations, former Senator George Mitchell, said that “[The First Lady] was one of many people who participated in encouraging women to get involved, not the only one.”

News of Senator Clinton’s claims has raised eyebrows across the ocean. Her reference to an important meeting at the Belfast town hall was debunked. Her only appearance at the Belfast City Hall was to see Christmas lights turned on. She also attended a 50-minute meeting which, according to the Belfast Daily Telegraph’s report at the time, “[was] a little bit stilted, a little prepared at times." Brian Feeney, an Irish author and former politician, sums it up: “The road to peace was carefully documented, and she wasn’t on it.”

Bosnia:
Senator Clinton has pointed to a March 1996 trip to Bosnia as proof that her foreign travel involved a life-risking mission into a war zone. She has described dodging sniper fire. While she did travel to Bosnia in March 1996, the visit was not a high-stakes mission to a war zone. On March 26, 1996, the New York Times reported that “Hillary Rodham Clinton charmed American troops at a U.S.O. show here, but it didn’t hurt that the singer Sheryl Crow and the comedian Sinbad were also on the stage.”

Kosovo:
Senator Clinton has said, “I negotiated open borders to let fleeing refugees into safety from Kosovo.” It is true that, as First Lady, she traveled to Macedonia and visited a Kosovar refugee camp. It is also true that she met with government officials while she was there. First Ladies frequently meet with government officials. Her claim to have “negotiated open borders to let fleeing refugees into safety from Kosovo,” however, is not true. Her trip to Macedonia took place on May 14, 1999. The borders were opened the day before, on May 13, 1999.

The negotiations that led to the opening of the borders were accomplished by the people who ordinarily conduct negotiations with foreign governments – U.S. diplomats. President Clinton’s top envoy to the Balkans, former Ambassador Robert Gelbard, said, “I cannot recall any involvement by Senator Clinton in this issue.” Ivo Daalder worked on the Clinton Administration’s National Security Council and wrote a definitive history of the Kosovo conflict. He recalls that “she had absolutely no role in the dirty work of negotiations.”

Rwanda:
Last year, former President Clinton asserted that his wife pressed him to intervene with U.S. troops to stop the Rwandan genocide. When asked about this assertion, Hillary Clinton said it was true. There is no evidence, however, to suggest that this ever happened. Even those individuals who were advocating a much more robust U.S. effort to stop the genocide did not argue for the use of U.S. troops. No one recalls hearing that Hillary Clinton had any interest in this course of action. Based on a fair and thorough review of National Security Council deliberations during those tragic months, there is no evidence to suggest that U.S. military intervention was ever discussed. Prudence Bushnell, the Assistant Secretary of State with responsibility for Africa, has recalled that there was no consideration of U.S. military intervention.

At no time prior to her campaign for the presidency did Senator Clinton ever make the claim that she supported intervening militarily to stop the Rwandan genocide. It is noteworthy that she failed to mention this anecdote – urging President Clinton to intervene militarily in Rwanda – in her memoirs. President Clinton makes no mention of such a conversation with his wife in his memoirs. And Madeline Albright, who was Ambassador to the United Nations at the time, makes no mention of any such event in her memoirs.

Hillary Clinton did visit Rwanda in March 1998 and, during that visit, her husband apologized for America’s failure to do more to prevent the genocide.

China:
Senator Clinton also points to a speech that she delivered in Beijing in 1995 as proof of her ability to answer a 3 AM crisis phone call. It is strange that Senator Clinton would base her own foreign policy experience on a speech that she gave over a decade ago, since she so frequently belittles Barack Obama’s speeches opposing the Iraq War six years ago. Let there be no doubt: she gave a good speech in Beijing, and she stood up for women’s rights. But Senator Obama’s opposition to the War in Iraq in 2002 is relevant to the question of whether he, as Commander-in-Chief, will make wise judgments about the use of military force. Senator Clinton’s speech in Beijing is not.

Senator Obama’s speech opposing the war in Iraq shows independence and courage as well as good judgment. In the speech that Senator Clinton says does not qualify him to be Commander in Chief, Obama criticized what he called “a rash war . . . a war based not on reason, but on passion, not on principle, but on politics.” In that speech, he said prophetically: “[E]ven a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.” He predicted that a U.S. invasion of Iraq would “fan the flames of the Middle East,” and “strengthen the recruitment arm of al Qaeda.” He urged the United States first to “finish the fight with Bin Laden and al Qaeda.”

If the U.S. government had followed Barack Obama’s advice in 2002, we would have avoided one of the greatest foreign policy catastrophes in our nation’s history. Some of the most “experienced” men in national security affairs – Vice President Cheney and Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and others – led this nation into that catastrophe. That lesson should teach us something about the value of judgment over experience. Longevity in Washington, D.C. does not guarantee either wisdom of judgment.

Conclusion:
The Clinton campaign’s argument is nothing more than mere assertion, dramatized in a scary television commercial with a telephone ringing in the middle of the night. There is no support for or substance in the claim that Senator Clinton has passed “the Commander-in-Chief test.” That claim – as the TV ad – consists of nothing more than making the assertion, repeating it frequently to the voters and hoping that they will believe it.

On the most critical foreign policy judgment of our generation – the War in Iraq – Senator Clinton voted in support of a resolution entitled “The Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of U.S. Military Force Against Iraq.” As she cast that vote, she said: “This is probably the hardest decision I have ever had to make -- any vote that may lead to war should be hard -- but I cast it with conviction.” In this campaign, Senator Clinton has argued – remarkably – that she wasn’t actually voting for war, she was voting for diplomacy. That claim is no more credible than her other claims of foreign policy experience. The real tragedy is that we are still living with the terrible consequences of her misjudgment. The Bush Administration continues to cite that resolution as its authorization – like a blank check – to fight on with no end in sight

HILLARY at 12:14PM on Mar 11th 2008

25. cenk, you are so very stupid. Only a really stupid person would make a comment like that and you know exactly what I mean. You really love to stirup trouble in this country.....are you a muslin?.........sleeper cell? You're certainly not a good citizen........but you already know that.

mag at 4:18PM on Mar 11th 2008

26. Insane Okane, you friggin,' mind-warped, tool, there is no comparison
between what Carter did and Iran/Contra!

Jimmy Carter brought about the downfall of the Soviet Union by
getting them sucked into their own Vietnam. He gets no credit for
it.

The Reagan/Bush team made a secret deal to keep the hostages until
after the election. Iran/Contra was a pay-off for that "October
Surprise" and an illegal way to fund their illegal war and support
the death squads in Central America. A war which was also funded by
cocaine money. Cocaine to the U.S. market in exchange for arms to
death squads.
The republican party is a criminal enterprise.

Your veiw of history is typically perverted.

Captain Negative at 1:10PM on Mar 11th 2008

27. Boogeyman Soros.

Get over it wingnuts. Welch, Richard Mellon Scaife, Adolph Coors, Rupert Murdoch, Richard Ailes.....

The red-publicans have lots of wealthy backers who spend their money trying to pay for their agendas. For you wingnuts, saying, "Soros" is as stupid as blaming Clinton every time one of your own gets caught in a compromising position. "Soros," is a simple cry from simple people.

Captain Negative at 1:16PM on Mar 11th 2008

28. This is politics - get over it!!!

sam at 1:19PM on Mar 11th 2008

29. People should read posts #23 and#24

The Captain is losing it. Read Post #22, well written, well thought out. You may not agree with writer, but it is well written and very factual.

Then go back and read 23 and 24. Poor man, talks to flying saucer people or something.

robert okane at 1:36PM on Mar 11th 2008

30. YOU ALL ARE GOING TO BE CRYING AFTER YOU VOTE OBAMA OR MCCAIN IN AND WE SIT HERE FOR YEARS WITH HIGH GAS PRICES AND A SINKING ECONOMY.
HILLARY CAN TURN IT AROUND.
8 YEARS OF GREAT ECONOMY DURING THE CLINTON YEARS SPEAK OF HER EXPERIENCE WHETHER FIRST HAND AS SENATOR OR SECOND HAND AS FIRST LADY.
OBAMA AND MCCAIN HAVE LITTLE OR NO ECONOMIC BACKGROUND.

new2008america at 1:44PM on Mar 11th 2008