Is it possible? The Supreme Court (yes, THAT Supreme Court) finally seems to have gotten something right! And it was a UNANIMOUS decision, no less. It’s enough to make us think there may be hope for... Washington, after all.
The State of California and the Obama administration wanted police to have the right to search a person’s cell phone, as if it was a business card found in a pocket, after an arrest. The case went back and forth a few times and finally ended up with the Supremes. The thinking on this subject (and I figured the general thinking was correct) that the court would side with the State of California and rule against those who argued that cell phones contain so much critical data these days they should be looked at as unique vessels.
Yes, said the Court in this rare unanimous decision, cell phones ARE unique repositories of scads of information and should be accessed only when a warrant is issued.
Now if only the Court could get unanimous on other issues that are tearing the country apart...
Remember how you couldn’t turn on the radio or the television without hearing or seeing something really awful about the campaign? Remember the soft, thoughtful words of talk radio hosts who sometimes seemed to be in a twenty-four hour a day Bash Bill and Hill competition?
Well, good news, folks, those grand old days are back and wouldn’t you know it, the target of all that bile is none other than that other Clinton, you know–the female one. If you’ve been paying attention during the last few weeks you’ve noticed a determined uptick in the number of negative stories about Ms. Clinton and her supposed campaign 2016 kick-off. And what has been the proof offered that Hillary’s popularity (and therefore campaign chances) aren’t what they used to be?
Why, it’s not this purported scandal or that supposed excess or that insinuated rumor. It isn’t Bill’s celebrated extra-marital love life or past impeachment hearings. It’s book sales. Yes, you heard that correctly. The right wing blogosfolks have been inundating us with sales figures for Hillary’s new autobio, “Hard Choices” and these sales figures apparently tell a story of faded reputation and hopeless unpopularity. I mean people had high hopes for this book and what happened? A hundred thousand hard cover copies in a week? Not very impressive. I mean any of us out here in the real world could sell than many copies of our daily diaries, right?
This is, of course, just the beginning of what promises to be the most targeted and attack-happy campaign for president in the history of targeted and attack-happy presidential campaigns. A lot of time and money and effort is going to be spent to savage the reputation of Hillary. Because, after all, her last name ends with that seven letter name.
So...another day, another shot at “winning” the Iraq War. Is this some hallucinatory nightmare? Yesterday President Obama announced that we are going to be sending 300 “advisors” to “advise” the Iraqi military on how to defeat an “enemy,” who is not exactly the “enemy” but plays one on TV.
Does anyone understand what is going on in Iraq? Not exactly. The politicians don’t. The leaders of Iraq don’t. Dick Cheney doesn’t. The current President of the United States seems to be a little confused, too. And easy to see why. This conflict has been going on for few thousand years and it’s always looked pretty much the same.
So we gave it a go ten years or so ago. Bush Two announced that we were going in to give freedom and liberty to the poor Iraqis. And how did that work out? Ask the hundred thousand or so dead Iraqis and the almost five thousand dead Americans. Ask the thousands of Americans who were lucky enough to come home from Iraq alive–give or take a few limbs.
So...another day, another shot at “winning” the Iraq War. And finally, we have something Democrats and Republicans seem to agree on: this is a very bad idea at a time when we should be thinking about doing just about anything else. Another POTUS was once faced with a similar dilemma. His name was Lyndon Johnson and his dilemma was called “Vietnam.” How did that one work out? We’re still dealing with the results of that one and we’ll be dealing with the results of this one for just as long. Maybe forever.
As the world stage is awash with turmoil and confrontation (Is Iraq still standing) there seems to be one question that is consuming the thoughts of every American (or is it?) The question concerns the political future of one Hillary Rodham... Clinton. Is Hillary running for president or not? Come on, Hillary, you can tell us... All the obvious indicators are at play: her public presence has lately been ubiquitous. A doorstop autobiography has just been released and the book is selling briskly (though many pundits have noted that, since the book is not the fastest selling celebrity book ever written in the history of publishing, it must be a colossal failure and hence, a marker for the number of voters who would likely support a Clinton candidacy.
Of course books sold do not translate into votes and all of this early speculation does nothing to advance...well, anything at all. As we all well know, Hillary Clinton is one of our shrewder politicians and she knows better than anyone that, in politics, short of being indicted for this or that, there is really no such thing as bad publicity. The fact that her name is being mentioned every second of every hour does nothing but advance the notion that she is running for the White House but, of course, we are in position to know. And all the speculation, so early in the game, that she is thinking of NOT running is quite ridiculous.
Only she understands what her political intentions are, and only she will tell America what that decision is. For now, the talk of a Hillary candidacy–or not–is nothing more than feeble guesswork. In a nation obsessed by sport, Hillary-watching is the American answer to soccer. Just a little more exciting.
You would think that seasoned politicians wouldn't be thrown for a loop when asked obvious questions by known-quantity interviewers but it goes to show that the present state of politics in this country have tossed a heavy ball to everyone-even the practiced and polished politicians like Hillary Clinton. These days, every politician is a target and there's not much any of them can do to protect themselves.
Here were were with the practiced and polished Diane Sawyer asking a very obvious question about the years after Clinton's presidency and what do we get? A wan and nervous Hillary dodging the Q with a silly, "we were broke when we left the White House" to explain the background to Sawyer's charge that the Clinton's had made tens of millions of dollars in speaking and book fees.
Instead of saying that they didn't steal the money, that the money was exchanged freely and voluntarily by organizations that were salivating at the prospect of having the Clintons speak at their gatherings, Mrs. Clinton came off sounding lamely apologetic. Republicans predictably pounced, as they will when Mrs. Clinton says ANYTHING about ANYTHING.
It sounds almost hard to say, but Mrs. Clinton is going to have to develop a much thicker skin if she's going to go for the gold. There are thousands of hungry crocodiles waiting to pounce.
Speaking of the flip flops of our esteemed Washington politicians, this might be a good time to reiterate my position about term limits.
It's no secret to anyone who follows me that I am no fan of lifetime politicians. That McConnell, who has been around longer than most of our readers have been alive, which is to say, a very, very time, is still in the game strikes me as somewhat obscene. It is not a healthy thing for the politics of a nation, nor for the general well being of its voters, that politicians like McConnell, and all the rest, Democrat and Republican, don't just pack their bags and get out of town after their sell-by date has arrived.
What possible reasons could these lifetime pols have for staying around the Capital except for the pleasure of exercising their accrued power and influence? Give it up, boys and girls. It's time to go back to those constituents you claim to care so much about.
