The Swamp has a long profile on University of Chicago Professor William Ayers. I don't think that Obama's association with Ayers is a problem because of Ayers' Weatherground past. And I support President Clinton's pardon and clemency for the two members of the group because it was based upon valid considerations and because we need Presidents who give more, not fewer grants of clemency.

In addition, I have admired Ayers and his wife, Bernadine Dohrn, for taking in and raising Chesa Boudin from the age of 14 months, when his parents, Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert, were arrested for their misdeeds with the Weather Underground. Chesa went on to graduate from Yale and become a Rhodes Scholar and an advocate for children of the imprisoned. A few years ago he wrote a very moving article, I am the son of Inmate 83A6158, about a jail visit with his parents. Kathy Boudin finally was released on parole in 2003.

I also applaud the work that Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn and Obama have done on behalf of juvenile offenders.

For the past few weeks, however, I have been concerned about a totally different issue with respect to Prof. Ayers: his political views concerning Palestine and Israel. The LA Times recently explored Obama's connection to those politics through his and Ayers' service on the board of the Woods Fund, during which time he and Ayers voted to award a grant of $70,000 to an organization created by Rashid Khalidi. The article raises questions about the depth and sincerity of Obama's expressed support for Israel. [More...]

By Big Tent Democrat:

Greg Sargent is still committing journalism at TPM, interviews George Stepanapoulus. The key snippet imo:

In an interview with me moments ago, Stephanopoulos strongly defended his handling of the debate. He dismissed criticism that it had focused too heavily on "gotcha" questions, arguing that they had gone to the heart of the "electability" that, he said, is forefront in the minds of voters evaluating the two Dems. "Overall, the questions were tough, fair, relevant, and appropriate," Stephanopoulos argued. And he rejected the claim by many Obama supporters that the debate had been stacked against him, saying Hillary had faced sharp questioning, too.

Nonsense, imo. ABC was incredibly unfair to Obama in this debate. Not quite as bad as NBC was to Clinton in those debates, nor has Obama faced anything like what Clinton has faced. But the ABC debate was a travesty imo.

By Big Tent Democrat

Some SUSA GE Head to Heads:

OHIO:

Obama 45
McCain 47

MINN:

Obama 49
McCain 43

More . . .

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only and post edited

Would a Democrat say:

There's really no difference between what happened in the Bush years and the Clinton years; that there's not much difference in how small-town Pennsylvania fared when Clinton was president, and in this decade when Bush was President.

Or would a Democrat dispute that point? In a way, there is a certain clarity that is being reached in the Obama blogworld - they want the Clinton part of the Democratic Party and the Clinton legacy demolished and destroyed. I personally think that leads to political suicide for the Democratic Party. But the Unity Schtick does not appear to extend to fellow Dems from the Obama blogs. Their hatred of Bill and Hillary Clinton has become more important to them than Obama's chances of winning in November.

Update: comments now closed

The Daily Pennsylvanian today endorsed Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama in the state's primary.

"We want to believe that Sen. Barack Obama can accomplish all he promises. His soaring rhetoric and compelling vision have inspired us and many other students," the endorsement said. "But while Obama's charisma far outshines that of Sen. Hillary Clinton, her public service, political experience and tenacity tell us not only 'Yes we can' but also 'How we can.' As such, we endorse Clinton for the Democratic Party's nomination for president.

"Our endorsement is not a rejection of Obama's leadership qualities. But choosing the president of the United States is too important a decision to make based on hope alone," the paper continued. "After finishing his term in the Senate and better showing us what he can do for the American people, Obama could one day be a remarkable president. Clinton, on the other hand, is ready to lead this nation now. A successful champion for change, her experience in the Senate and as first lady gives her a better understanding of how Washington works. She has the ability to turn policy into reality. And her mastery of causes central to the Democratic Party's platform makes her better suited to challenge presumptive Republican nominee John McCain."

These are pretty much the reasons I expressed earlier today. I'm glad I'm not alone. Hopefully by PA primary day, it will be the majority opinion of PA voters.

It's strike two against the government in its misguided effort to convict six alleged terrorists charged in Miami with conspiring to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago. The government's first attempt ended in a mistrial for the six defendants -- a seventh was acquitted. Hoping to overcome the embarrassment of blowing the prosecution of a case that Alberto Gonzales announced with great fanfare, federal prosecutors tried again -- and again the jury hung, producing a second mistrial.

The outcome isn't surprising, given the lack of evidence that the alleged terrorists had the resources or ability to launch an attack, and the strong suggestion in the evidence that they were goaded into making terrorism-related statements by undercover FBI agents. (more ...)

By Big Tent Democrat

Chris Bowers reports:

I went to the spin room after the debate . . . I passed Governor Ed Rendell just as he was finishing an interview. Afterwards, appearing very happy, he said the following to someone standing next to him, revealing not only what he thought of the debate, but also of the early questions at the debate:

Even an Obama Kool-Aid drinking guy like yourself has to admit she scored a decisive victory tonight. A decisive victory. A knockout blow. A decisive victory. A decisive victory. Even more decisive when they started asking real questions.

. . . It was a candid, off-the record moment that I was able to catch because I was only standing five feet away.

Interesting. Good reporting by Bowers.

By Big Tent Democrat

On the Trina Bachtel story, I disagree with Paul Krugman's correction. I think Krugman is wrong when he writes:

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Last summer, Clinton Communications Director Howard Wolfson defending Daily Kos:

BILL O’REILLY, HOST: Now for the top story tonight, another view of this. Joining us from Washington, Howard Wolfson, a top advisor to Senator Clinton. On Mrs. Clinton's website stands this statement: "Tell Bill O'Reilly to stop smearing grassroots progressives." That after our reporting on JetBlue sponsoring the Kos convention. So Mr. Wolfson, you want to explain that?

HOWARD WOLFSON, CLINTON COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Bill, I think it's unfortunate that in the last week or so, you have cherry picked some comments on the DailyKos site that you or I or others might find objectionable and have decided to smear an entire community, hundreds of thousands of people who go to the site every day, who talk to one another, who participate vigorously in our democracy, and are urging Democratic presidential candidates to stay away from their yearly conference. And unfortunately, with all due respect for you, the days where you can dictate where Senator Clinton and other Democrats go, who we talk to, are over.

Daily Kos today:

It's bizarre, but I don't really consider [Hillary Clinton] a Dem any more.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

On the theory, I guess, that one of his darts might possibly hit a target, the charlatan pundit who claims to be a pollster, John Zogby, tells us Pennsylvania is a tie (Let me add that if Zogby were actually a pollster, this finding would not be particularly newsworthy in that the movement from his previous poll (Clinton down 2, Obama up 1) is well within the MOE. It is not a surprising finding. But I know that Zogby is a charlatan and he just makes the numbers up by manipulating his turnout model.)

The race might indeed be a tie but I am sure John Zogby has no idea if it is or if it is not. He is a charlatan. But I do thank him for giving me another chance to call him one. After his disappearance after his humiliating exposure this campaign season, I thought I might not get such a chance again.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Our friend Markos approvingly quotes this offensive comment:

It's bizarre, but I don't really consider [Hillary Clinton] a Dem any more.

It is bizarre that any Dem who wants to win in November with a unified Party would quote that approvingly. For the record, would "not a Dem" say this?

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Greg Mitchell writes:

In perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years, ABC News hosts Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous focused mainly on trivial issues as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama faced off in Philadelphia. They, and their network, should hang their collective heads in shame.

Apparently, Mitchell skipped all of the NBC moderated debates this campaign season. ABC's performance last night was truly horrendous. The bias and unfairness against Obama incredible. But Greg Mitchell has had nothing to say about NBC becoming the Obama News Network. During debates and beyond. Has he watched Keith Olbermann's embarrassing performances? Truth be told, people like Greg Mitchell need to hang their head in shame because they said NOTHING when the hatchet job was done on Hillary Clinton. This is Boehlert's Revenge:

What’s happening online now is potentially dangerous: HRC has gotten dreadful press, not fair, “gotcha,” and so on — there’s a portion of the blogosphere that has ignored that and there’s a portion that has encouraged that.

It’s dangerous because the media criticism has to be consistent and relentless, and we can’t very well say, “You can’t go after our candidates … except this one.” I get nervous about pushback regarding disingenuous coverage - our response needs to be, “You can’t treat Democrats this way.” When people in the left blogosphere are quoting an anonymous Matt Drudge source, it makes me nervous.