I am generally a Clinton fan and for the past few years I've looked forward to the day that I might vote for Hillary for President.

As that day draws closer, however, I find myself firmly in the undecided camp.   Things I am hearing about regarding the Clinton campaign in Oklahoma are not helping.

Hillary has made two trips to Oklahoma this summer, both fundraisers
that were closed to the general public.  Unless you were a member of the public that could fork over thousands of dollars. I did read Friday that you COULD get into yesterday's Tulsa rally for $50, but you were pretty much relegated to "steerage".

Join me on the flip for more....

This diary is somewhat in response to a diary currently on the rec list.

Considering DailyKos is a site dedicated to promoting the electoral successes of the democratic party, and considering that I live in a region of the country that the democratic party needs to make inroads in to regain any kind of meaningful power, I think this is relevant.

more on the flip....

The dumbing down of America continues......

FRISCO, Tex., Sept. 28 -- "Keep the `Art' in `Smart' and `Heart,' " Sydney McGee had posted on her Web site at Wilma Fisher Elementary School in this moneyed boomtown that is gobbling up the farm fields north of Dallas.

But Ms. McGee, 51, a popular art teacher with 28 years in the classroom, is out of a job after leading her fifth-grade classes last April through the Dallas Museum of Art. One of her students saw nude art in the museum, and after the child's parent complained, the teacher was suspended.

More on the flip....

and with me...

I just saw a video on MSNBC(I don't think live, but shot this morning) of thousands of very angry people outside of the superdome.  They showed one younger person sweating profusely, obviously very ill.  They also showed an elderly person on the verge of fainting.
People have died there and Harry Connick Jt is on a cell phone with MSNBC pleading for help.

I do not understand why a country of our resources, THREE DAYS OUT, cannot
manage to have food/water/toilets/medical personel AT LEAST outside of the
superdome, not to mention in the other devestated areas.

On the day of the Oklahoma City bombing, I was down there, and the red cross had food and water available for ANYONE who needed it by early afternoon.

This is just unbelievable.

And now the big dick is saying he's going to visit on Friday, just what they need.

THis is a rant that I just emailed to an assortment of friends and associates.  Would it make a difference if everyone who cared did something like this?

ARRGGHHH!

While I admit to being mildly interested in Martha and (to an even lesser extent) Michael, I am appalled, APPALLED, to the degree with which the news media is abandoning its duty to inform the public.

Last night when I went to bed, the news media had followed Martha from her release from prison, to the airport where she boarded her private jet.  I awoke to footage news cameras had shot of Martha, newly arrived home, IN HER HOUSE, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!

All week its been all Martha and Michael, with a little BTK mixed in.

In the meantime, did you know that....

The following is an email I sent to Don Imus and a few others at MSNBC in response to a comment Imus made.

Whether we are Christian, Jew, Muslim, Agnostic,
Atheist, whatever, we have got to take this "values" debate back.  

Anyone, regardless of religious affiliation, can have respect for inaliable rights, concern for the poor, etc., and we have go to claim this debate, because "values" have been reduced to hate and intolerance.

I run an email group comprised of people I used to attend a church with.  There are a few wingnuts that regularly send republican propoganda in the form of chain emails.  The group is mixed enought that these are worth refuting.  I received a doozy today and it doesn't show up in snopes or breakthechain.

If anyone happens to have any factoids filed away to refute some or all of this, I would love to refute it.

Alarming Salon.com article describes, among other things, how Dr. Tom Coburn (R-OK), canidate for US SENATE in Oklahoma, committed medicaid fraud, sterilizing a 20 year old women without her consent.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/13/coburn/print.html

SERMON: UNFIT FOR COMMAND

As seen on the marquee of First Baptist Church in Edmond, OK.

http://www.fbcedmond.org/fbc/index.asp

I have no other info regarding this, but the thought of some baptist preacher giving credence to this pack of lies, to a congregation that must number in the thousands, is disturbing.

Anyone catch the shrubs press conference this morning?  A poster on another board I was reading said that Bush bobbled a question and said the Saddam "could have" produced weapons of mass destruction" as opposed to he "did" have weapons of mass distruction.  The poster said that Andrew Card later came on to "clarify" what the president meant.  Anyone catch this?  Was it anything?  Can't find any transcripts yet.

Oklahoma Republican candidate for US Senate
Tom Coburn said in a recent article by the associated press...

On the death penalty, he said: "I favor the death penalty for abortionists and other people who take life."

Anyone else find this,uh, a little beyond extreme?

Does anyone know of any good blogs written/posted by military personel serving in Iraq? Also, has their been any discussion as to what has happened with Salam Pax. Who abruptly stopped blogging a few weeks ago. Thanks for any info!