Obama can choose to not maximize his chances of winning in November if he does not choose Hillary Clinton as his Vice President. And that will be his choice and his responsibility. I wrote a post that discussed making professional choices when you are running for President. Obama needs to be a professional about this. And a professional would see that Hillary Clinton is clearly his best choice for VP, as this Gallup poll demonstrates:

Obama 45
McCain 45

Obama/Clinton 50
McCain 45

The Hillary Haters in the Media and the blogs will pretend not to notice this data. But they MAY have to notice in November if Obama loses a close election.

It's on now. He's talking about change.

Reactions?

Update: Soundbite from the speech: "My two daughters see themselves differently because Hillary ran for President."

Are you feeling the Unity yet? Here's my suggestion - consider which of the remaining candidates best represents your views. Don't let the vitriol and hatred from the supporters or the blogs decide who YOU want to vote for. To me, if you are a Democrat, believe in ending the war in Iraq, in providing fairness to our tax system, in improving our health care system, in providing a fairer society, then the choice is clear - Barack Obama is clearly superior to John McCain. [More...]

Civilian oversight of police departments is essential for the reasons advanced by Oakland's city attorney:

[T]aking Internal Affairs out of the Oakland Police Department would clarify the line between officers and the investigators who hold them accountable for misconduct. The concentration of investigators in Internal Affairs is a result of the Oakland Police Department's not-too-distant history of not investigating its own. In the past, Internal Affairs did a poor job of holding fellow officers accountable. A few years ago, for example, newly assigned commanders found boxes containing about 700 inquiries and possible complaints of misconduct that were never investigated.

Yet the concept is often resisted by police departments (large and small) that apparently see a danger in civilian oversight. What's wrong with accountability? And, for that matter, why shouldn't Chicago's aldermen be entitled to learn the names of "the 662 Chicago police officers with more than 10 complaints filed against them"? Police officers work for, and are accountable to, the public. Shouldn't the public's elected representatives be entitled to know what public employees are up to?

That's what AmericaBlog says. Bill Cinton was too I guess.

As readers of this blog know, I thought Obama the better choice to be the nominee BECAUSE he was a Media Darling and because the Media hated Bill and Hillary Clinton.

I believe events have borne out my 2007 assessment, certainly as to who would be the Media's darling and demon. I respectfully disagree with AmericaBlog's assessment.

Comments closed

Do you have things on your mind other than what we are writing about today? Here's a place to vent them.

Earlier, Big Tent Democrat wrote "What Now?" describing what he will blog about here on out. He also posted (more) perspectives on sexism.

I'm glad to see TChris is back with his informative posts on continuing injustices.

The message if there is one: We will all survive. I plan to use Obama's promise of change to make specific requests on how to bring it about. I'm not a party activist. I'm an advocate for causes I believe in. I am going to support Barack Obama, but I'll be nudging him along every step of the way to do more. No free passes for anyone.

I'll be back tonight.

Comments now closed.

While most of us will file this under "old news," this story nonetheless reminds us of one of the many important issues at stake when it comes time to vote in November: how long the misguided mission in Iraq will be allowed to continue.

In a report long delayed by partisan squabbling, the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday accused President Bush and Vice President Cheney of taking the country to war in Iraq by exaggerating evidence of links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda in the emotional aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Here's the report (pdf).

1st Lt. Andrew Grayson was acquitted yesterday by a military juy on charges he covered up information from the Haditha killings.

He was accused of telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from a digital camera and laptop computer.

Grayson, of Springboro, Ohio, was acquitted of two counts of making false official statements, two counts of trying to fraudulently separate from service and one count of attempt to deceive by making false statements. He would have faced as many as 20 years in prison if convicted of all counts.

Grayson was the first to go to trial. Other trials will follow. [More...]

Robert Smith, the district attorney of Hinds County, Mississippi, dismisses concerns that the death penalty is disproportionately imposed on nonwhite offenders. His evidence?

"I've visited Parchman [a maximum security prison]. It was when I was with the public defenders office and we toured death row, and I saw a lot of white guys," he said.

Well, if he saw "a lot of white guys," the system must be fair, right? Apparently he didn't notice the black guys.

Of the 64 inmates on death row now, 32 are black, 31 are white and one is Asian, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections' Web site.

The actual evidence that the death penalty disproportionately burdens nonwhite offenders contradicts the conclusions drawn by the DA after his stroll through death row. Smith's insistence that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent is similarly based on perception rather than facts. (more ...)

Are states finally starting to understand that our flawed criminal justice system makes it too easy to convict the innocent? This post yesterday noted the formation of a task force in New York to study the causes of wrongful convictions in that state. There's more good news today, this time from Texas:

In reaction to the growing number of exonerations across the state, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals announced Wednesday that it is creating a Texas Criminal Justice Integrity Unit to investigate and address weaknesses in the criminal justice system.

Texas has a particularly bad history of convicting the innocent, as the court recognized:

John Cole of Balloon Juice is a a fervent Obama supporter. One of the most fervent in my estimation.

He writes a post today that is interesting in terms of its Rashomon-like quality about things political. But most importantly to me, it also is telling evidence of the malign acceptance of sexism and misogyny that pervades our society. John writes:

At his arraignment today, Khalid Sheik Mohammed sang in court, praised Allah and said he welcomed the death penalty so he would be a martyr.

He has rejected his attorneys and says he wants to represent himself.

My shield is Allah most high," he said, adding that his religion forbade him from accepting a lawyer from the United States and that he wanted to act as his own attorney .

Shades of Zacarias Moussaoui, who having been tried in federal court, is now serving life at Supermax. Moussaoui has a chance to appeal. If Mohammed stays on this course, he'll be dead. [Update below]