" Why would anyone be surprised at the Clinton's tactics of personal destruction? You're not surprised at what a dog does to a fire hydrant, are you? It's just what they do, nothing more. As for Iraq, neither Hillary, Edwards or Obama will promise to remove the troops BY THE END OF THEIR FIRST TERM (FIVE years from now). They are ALL in agreement on this (as they are on all their positions. Not a split hair's difference between any of them). I have to disagree about McCain being the Republican's choice. So far he has been the choice primarily of Independents. If you look at the current delegate count Romney is the clear leader with 59, Huckelberry has 40 and McCain has 36. Now that Thompson is out, his conservative voters are far more likely to go with Romney than the "anti-tax cut", "pro amnesty for illegals", "anti-First Amendment" voting McCain... "

" This is so obviously Republican Propaganda that that is all the time anyone needs to spend on this idiotic issue. "

" I concur, Michael. Did anyone note during the CNN debate how Hillary misrepresented Obama's voting record? She tried to make it appear that Obama avoided his responsibility on a key issue by voting "present." Obama explained that the bill, as initially written and in which he was involved, had been changed to his dissatisfaction but there were still valid and valuable parts intact. So, rather than voting "no" and defeating a mostly good bill, he voted "present," hoping to work further to return to and retain the good points in the bill. Hillary was obviously distorting his voting record and intent. She is so immature that it is embarrasing to watch her on stage. AND, anyone who could show their face in public AT ALL after the shenanigans she and Willie pulled while in office is an amazing thing to me. I can't imagine Bill & Hill are not far too embarrased and humiliated to ever attempt to place themselves in the public trust, again, after having been proven how totally dishonest and deceitful the Clintons were and ARE. That Hillary and Bill act as though they are the victims in the current "race baiting" is another bafflement. They created it!!! "

" Kevin--You may be right about McCain, we will know in a couple of weeks. But as I see it he is the only one that has a chance of winning. Romney I just can't stand, maybe it is because he is such a liar. He won't be able to say a word about Hillary's lying himself. "

" Lee, you appear to be a Democrat. Doesn't it bother you the way Hillary is lying about Obama so much? He's a Democrat, and a nice honest guy to boot. She can't blame a vast right wing conspiracy on Obama. Do we really want at least four years of that in the White House? This is not going to stop, the people she and Bill will be attacking will be different, the message will be the same and it will never end. If she wins it will be wall to wall war in this country. "

" It doesn't matter whether Hillary, Edwards or Obama wins, all their Liberal policies are identical: higher taxes, government run health care, less national security. It will be war regardless who wins, for ideologues like me who will never change our views. "

" Ummm-Hmmm, new 'conservatie' choice Willard "Mitt" Romney still has MONEY whereas the other Republicans are on financial life-support. Of course, Willard "Mitt" Romney still has that LIBRUL Massachusetts governor thing to explain to 'conservatives', but that MONEY will help, right? I enjoyed the "kevin" referral to what dogs do to fire hydrants quite a bit! Of course, he left out that when the Bushite Republican administration told 935 complete falsehoods to get their war on, the Bushites did the 'fire hydrant... meet dog' thing all over the truth. With all of the Republican candidates except Ron Paul backing Mr. Bungle they collectively joined Mr. Bungle in wetting down the fire hydrant too. Of all the potential Republican candidates, the only one who got cheers when asked about their position on Mr. Bungle's War was Ron Paul, trollbane to 'conservative' Bush-enablers and the only Republican candidate on the stage who told the truth to the American people. No wonder 'conservatives' hate him. ~Ruff "

" napablogger: Yes, I am a Democrat. That doesn't mean I can't tell the truth about who is lying and who isn't. Like for instance, the entire Bush administration lied over 900 times to us to get us into this Iraq war. I guess you and others of your ilk don't accept that either. I still say your letter is Republican Propaganda. "

" No one really expects Bush-enablers who don't want to see poor kids get government-funded healthcare while they sit back and enjoy their own government-funded healthcare at our expense to change their views. Why should they? Other people's kids are just meaningless abstractions to them whether America's kids lives are squandered in Iraq or ruined because of some childhood disease. Whenever Bushite-enabling 'conservatives' can stifle human progress when 'they have theirs', they are not going to change. That is no big surprise now is it? We have to listen to these people, pay close attention to what they are really saying, and then... knowing that Bushite Republicans are perfect "reverse weathervanes"... do the exact opposite of whatever they recommend as a course of action. Progressives kid themselves if they think they can reach a compromise with Bushite-enabling 'conservatives'. One 'conservative' right here in the NVR has just declared 'war' on other Americans who don't agree with his rather self-centered view of politics. I believe he means electoral war not insurrection. However, we should take him and the rest of the Bushite-enablers seriously. It's up to the rest of us as patriotic American realists to defeat their candidates for office. If they want 'war' we had better win it. ~Ruff "

" Napablogger, how many Hillary rants is this? With in 3 weeks and so much hatred? At least I am over Nixon. Could you be in any need of psychoanalysis or therapy or maybe just a little counseling?

Can you inform us with something constructive here or demonstrate a policy issue or make reasonable and convincing assessment of positions? Personal opinion is rarely informative especially from someone with such a strong bias. I sincerely doubt you have such great affection for Senator Obama.

When I read many of the major conservative pundits, say Will or Sapphire or Buckley, I am generally able to take away a small informative insight but then they are not bloggers, generally. I am able to gain something from their view of economics and even political philosophy.

Besides being for McCain is there something else you clearly advocate? While being a therapist may have allowed you much success I wonder about the character of a person in your position exhibiting a limited grasp of economics and a highly slippery philosophy of government.

Can you demonstrate on a single issue where you feel McCain is right and elaborate on that? Perhaps that would be just too dull for cyberspace. If you actually tried to contrast real differences in these candidates you might prove more persuasive and informative.

Reading such spew as you are currently offering calls to question the NVR’s decision to sponsor this blog. I was actually expecting something better here but we might as well argue with each other on some mindless chain.
"

" My Mom and Dad always told us " The Republican party is for the
rich and the Democrats are for the poor" .. Doesn't it look that way to you ? As for the economy .. just do a little research on the business ventures of the present resident of the White House..Every business he tried , someone had to bail him out of...either Daddy or his Saudi friends, now he wants Congress to straighten out our country.. "

" Lee, that is called changing the subject. I think Bush blew it, and may well have lied although it is hard to prove about WMD. He sure lied about FISA and some other things. But we are not talking about Bush here, he is gone. We are talking about a good chance that we are going to get stuck with Hillary Clinton who will act just like she is now throughout her term of office. Do we really want to go there? I am personally appalled that she is leading strongly in national polls with the kind of behavior she and Bill are exhibiting. Democrats have bemoaned over and over how dumb Republicans were to elect Bush, and now I agree, it was a terrible mistake. I challenge you and other Democrats to step up to the plate and face the fact that you are about to be just as dumb. This woman, whatever her policies, is going to turn this country into a constant political war that we just don't need any more of. Democrats are heading toward the same dumb mistake that the Republicans did, electing a total partisan who really is even worse than Bush. And make no mistake, her policies are going to be very similar to Bush's on the Iraq war. These two familiies feel like they are dynastic heirs to the throne here. Remember when Bush decided not to allow the Justice Dept to pursue Clinton's pardons, when he sealed Clintons records, when he helped Clinton go scott free off all the things that Congress wanted to investigate after he left office? The Bush's and Clintons help each other out. There is a reason. "

" Concerned, I agree with you, and I don't see how anyone pointing out Hillary's constant lying about Obama could attribute that to Republican propaganda. Anyone can see it, even John Kerry. It is so obvious, in fact, that I dare say any Democrat who is ignoring it or somehow justifying in their own minds is guilty of too much bias. "

" Bill you crack me up. Isn't this about your third rant that my column is useless? I guess we both repeat ourselves. And actually, it is the second time for both and you will probably be hearing me for about, oh say four years on her if she gets elected. She is the worse thing that could happen to this country and I am trying to, in my own small way, wake people up to the danger she is. Democrats did the same thing with Bush and the GOP didn't listen, now they are about to pull the same mistake themselves after eight years of hammering us for being idiots. So I will spend the next four years saying, I told you so. I may be in need of therapy, if you have any tips or insights for me, let me know. And I am giving you a new piece of info if not insight, Hillary is saying she is going to end the war but she is not. You heard it here first. It is being dismissed by everyone on the thread, the Republicans because they want to pin her as a cut and runner, the Dems as this is GOP propaganda. Brooks is not kidding around, he has pointed this out specifically before, and if you look at the history of Bush and the Clintons it becomes even more obvious. This likelihood does not fit either parties agenda so everyone is ignoring it. Apparently I am giving you so much insight that you are ignoring it. Are you resisting therapy here Bill???? "

" Ruff, wait, I am sitting back enjoying government provided health care? I am spending over 10% of my gross income on health care, the government is not paying my health care. Mitt Romney is possibly the only candidate on either side who is actually lying more than the Clintons. I would never vote for him, no one knows what he stands for but I bet he is a lot more liberal than the people supporting him think. Poor kids are already getting government funded health care, by the way, they have for decades. The issue now is giving them insurance, not health care. I worked in social services, and even in poor Georgia in the seventies, anyone who needed any kind of care, medical or otherwise, could get it free, high quality, and promptly. They still can. We have all kinds of free medical clinics around Napa for kids, and we are not only giving our own poor kids free health care, we are giving people from other countries free medical care here. The issue for the Democrats is really that for people paying insurance, they think it is too expensive. And somehow they think if we give poor kids free insurance instead of free medical care they would get better care. My bet is that it will be worse. "

" Nice to see someone taking note of Hillary's military connection.

There's an interesting site that has tracked some of her support for the military, which at times, has been stronger than some Republicans.

Google hillsmilvotes "

" Good to see you reporting on Hillary's military issue.

In the White House, she bucked up Bill. In the Senate she voted against the Levin Ammendment to give Congress control, for Iraq Resolution with adamant speeches; she voted for cluster bombing in civilian areas; voted for Iran (the only dem candidate to do so), voted against tying funding to political progress (only Dem to do so); she is not against torture; she is not against nuclear first strikes.

When it comes to military, she is stronger than some Republicans. "

" A choice between voting for Hillary, Obama or Edwards presents no choice. If it is be one of them as the Democrat candidate then I say great - none of them is electable and we will have another Republican in the White House. This is the election for the presidency of the United States. The most powerful person in the world. The world is laughing at us. They wonder how can we can even consider these buffoons? If Hillary cries when she is criticized what will she do when our enemies attack us? If Obama can't get it up enough to bring the fight to Hillary, what will happen when he has to stand up to a man in power somewhere. If Edwards can't get his hair combed in time to respond to an actual crisis... "

" DC, you are correct. And there are so many instances of the Bushies and Clintons working together. People forget, but when Bush took office, everyone was outraged by the pardons that Clinton issued right as he was leaving and wanted an investigation. Bush stepped in and claimed executive privilege and shut that down. This was a new and unprecedented use of executive privilege. About the same time Republican Dan Burton wanted to investigate Janet Reno's refusal to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton fund raising scandals. Bush came in and protected Clinton again by sealing away all the records under the claim of executive privilege. Bush has successfully sealed off all kinds of potentially damaging records on the Clintons, and has raised the level of secrecy in the White House to historic levels. It is plainly illegal, and it all started with hiding Clinton malfeasance. People don't even realize this, or very few at least. Did you know that any of the employees of the Dept of Homeland Security, which does a lot of things and has hundreds of thousands of employees, can stamp a paper confidential and the public then can never see it? Even low level clerks? All due to Bush, Cheney really. "

" Napablogger, Thanks for the compliment I appreciate being amusing. The blogosphere is certainly a bag of chuckles, especially where vitriol passes for commentary. For people who have spent the last 8 years blaming the previous 8 years for all the woes that befall us it is certainly disheartening to look forward to another 4 years of unproductive hatred. Could it be that is what this entertainment is?

Desiring a love hate relationship with Hillary seems hardly healthful then again I am not a therapist. Are you certain you don’t harbor a subliminal “thing” for this candidate? As for hearing it here first I do believe you give your self more credit than is due. A Billy Kristol wannabe does you a disservice.

Most Democrats don’t have an ingrained hatred of the current White House occupant as much as they do his poor leadership capabilities and his bungling ethical confusion over the meaning of truth or the moral meaning of torture. He can be personally quite charming and as a private family person I am sure quite honest as you might wish to think, a man of good character. I don’t even find him as personally loathsome as Nixon.

As far as the war in Iraq no one is as clear as McCain on what he views as must be done except for Kucinich. None of the other candidates has presented a clear understanding of what they truly advocate or how or what we should do. Even the current White House occupant is uncertain.

Get you your self back on track and start talking policy and get away from the innuendo. It may not be as much fun but it might prove more informative. Save me from 4 more years of drivel.
"

" "napablogger", you know very well that I get nasty grams from the NVR moderator threatening to remove my rights to post here if I get 'too personal' by actually naming the name of the commenter I have in mind, even if I add facts to the discussion or am telling the truth. So I have to walk around the edges of getting banned to post truthful items about the circumstances of, versus the positions taken, by certain Bushite Republican-enabling commenters here. How shallow a debate trick is it to assume that I am talking about you if you do not receive government-funded healthcare? Keep it honest would you? If you don't... you risk your creditability, not mine. You are lucky to be paying ONLY "over 10%" of your income on health insurance. Many pay more than that, or worse, can't get health coverage at any price. If everybody in America had single-payer healthcare you'd pay less and so would everybody else. You haven't been keeping up on healthcare issues if you think that everybody gets the healthcare they got in the seventies now. There have been decades of Republicans whacking at healthcare since Nixon OKed HMOs and created the 'for-profit' healthcare denial system. Do you recall how doctors at the Queen were actually supporting a small tax on phone service to support emergency rooms? Lots of them are being closed now so that the poor can be turned away. In Texas, you can be taken off life-support, even if you are awake and begging for mercy, if you don't have any more money. So... on healthcare, are you still smoking what they smoked in the 70s? ~Ruff "

" Here's another counter-point...I'm a conservative that is BEGGING and PLEADING for Obama to win. It will serve two purposes: 1) It will motivate true conservatives to do something in the wake of Bush's complete destruction of the Republican platform and 2) It will shut-up all the whiney minorities that still claim oppression because they're held down by "the Man." In this age of entitlement suckleing socialists and the ongoing invasion of our country by illegal aliens...I'm afraid that conservative thought is going to have to hit rock bottom before it can truly bounce back. Go Obama!!!! "

" I see Hillary's plan to play the "race card" has worked in S. Carolina. Obama's strong win with 86% of the black vote now solidifies his position (as portrayed by Hillary) as the "candidate of the African-American voter". As contrasted by Hillary now becoming the canidate for all the "other voters". As much as I despise her politically, I have to give her credit for her gamesmanship. What is surprising is that major newspapers are reporting this story accurately. The media is not covering up for the Clintons like they have in the past. "

" Ruff, first of all I did not realize you were talking about someone here, I probably read it but it is a lot to keep up with. Anyone on Medicare that is a Republican I suppose falls into the category of which you speak. Anyway, I read about health care all the time and at one time worked in mental health. Anyone who wants medical treatment can get it in this country. No matter what system you put in place access will have to be limited in one way or another, instead of private insurance it will be the government making choices over who and what to limit. People think it is going to be a boon somehow to have the government making those decisions, and all I can say is when has a government program ever been less expensive than a private one? Never. I am focused on the Presidential race now but plan to write a blog on health care when I get a chance. "

" Kevin, you are right, the media is telling the truth about the Clintons for once. Could it be that their attacks on a liberal black candidate are the reason? As long as it was a Republican the media sided with the Clintons. Now that they are going after a gifted black candidate, their modus operandi is a little too blatant. We may be looking at the Clintons last stand. Hallelujah! "

" Bill, you are funny, I enjoy your comments. Cynicism is too mild a word, but whatever your bad attitude is it is often very funny. Ruff is too, sarcasm can hurt but sometimes it is just too funny to avoid. Now, I don't hate Hillary, that is far too personal for me. It is not about her really at all, it is about the people who refuse to see how bad she would be for the country. She is kind of an average narcissitic person, you see a million of them around. I don't hate them either, but I sure wouldn't want them to be President. She is a great person in a lot of ways, and I was actually warming toward her candidacy myself until she started campaigning and I was reminded again how dishonest and nasty she and Bill are. I think I mentioned that before. I agree that McCain has a clear vision on Iraq, so does Ron Paul, and they are opposites. I would love Ron Paul to be right, and I fear that McCain is correct. I can go with either one cause I have no idea what to do about that. It seems like the violence has reduced but there has been no improvement politically. "

" musiklover, Obama has taken the fight to Hillary the last few days--and very well, without getting too far down in the dirt. I am starting to like this guy more and more. I always liked him, but wasn't sure if he was legit. I am starting to think that he is. His speech last night after he won the south Carolina primary was phenomenal. I don't think Baby Boomers really get this guy, how sincere it is in his bones about being someone who is past all the boomer crap over racism and sexism and identity politics. I think he could really pull the country together in so many different ways. I don't agree with some of his policy positions, but at this point I think we need a leader who can bring people together and that is more important. "

" I heard Obama's speech last night too and it was one of the best I have ever heard...he is a great orator. "

" One correction napablogger, you state that there has been "no progress politically" in Iraq and that is not true. (Of course you wouldn't know it from the lack of coverage in the Liberal media.) Recently the Iraq government finally passed one of the "milestone" pieces of legislation that will allow former members of the Baath Party to resume working in the government bureaucracy. Many well educated, non-political Sunni's formerly worked in these positions under Saddam and now will be able to use their experience to improve the government's functioning. "

" "napablogger", I am not talking about any Republican on Medicare. I am talking about self-identified government employees who consider their healthcare coverage as reason enough to take a lower paycheck than they might get in the private sector. Then they turn around and yammer about how glad they are that Mr. Bush denies healthcare coverage for kids of families too well-off for Medicare, but too poor for private medical insurance. There are millions of such kids and MORE of them since Bush took office. This attitude is the worst kind of "I've GOT my healthcare, so the rest of you who are paying for my healthcare with your taxes... I don't want your kids to have what my kids have at your expense!" It requires a very special kind of short-sighted tapeworm to ignore the health of their hosts! The bulk of the American people are very impatient with the Republican Ideology of "I've GOT mine while we shaft you!" This attitude is definitely a moral problem, but also demonstrates an astounding lack of common sense. ~Ruff "

" "kevin", the so-called progress in Iraq has indeed been trumpeted quite throughly in the US corporate media. What is not being trumpeted by self-styled conservatives is that the law is a step in the WRONG DIRECTION if you want 'national reconciliation' because it allows Sunnis who have already be accepted into the government with the existing law to be booted out now. As always, some skepticism and fact-checking of the bogus claims of the usual Republican-enabling 'reverse weathervanes' is definitely in order. ~Ruff "

" Kevin, you're right. What ever happened to people being responsible for themselves, their decisions, their children, their well being and their family? Why is "Big Daddy Government" supposed to supply everything? When did this country come to accept entitlement as reality? Who says the gov has the right to take from Peter to pay Paul? And the apologists!!! Yes, as long as someone else is paying for it, hey, go ahead and make dumb, ignorant and irresponsible decisions and then expect the rest of society to pay for it. Ruff..you're so off base you're not even in the ballpark. Yeah, lets bring back in the sick Clintons to the white house; the same people who acted in such insane, immature and laughably ridiculous ways that they are an embarrasment to this country. The office of President is more than decision making; it's also how the rest of the world views our country...adolescents playing with each other in the White House while the world looks on. Yeah, laudable people,those Clintons. Bring 'em on! "

" "Concerned Citizen", yes, I don't hang out in your ballpark! Currently under the Republican healthcare plan, those of us who have the money and are healthy enough to meet a company's underwriting conditions get health 'insurance' until we get sick and need it. Then you get dumped on. Millions of kids are not covered now. Is it their fault? Do kids get to chose how well-off their parents are? Does a child born with juvenile diabetes get to chose that before birth? People who understand risk pools know that the best pool to share 'health risk' is 'everybody'. After all, we all get sick and eventually die. Our healthcare system worked fine until the Republicans messed it up nationally when Nixon introduced HMOs and the downward spiral began. It's a fact and in Nixon's own words. "We, the People..." have the right to FIX the laws in OUR country to ensure that everybody and their kids are covered if "We, the People..." want it that way! This American citizen wants it that way. My wife and I pay $1700.00 a month in 'health insurance' TAXES (it comes out before everything else just like TAXES) right now! I want a better deal for all that house-payment sized bill. Of course, I'd be pleased as punch if the millions of American citizens without healthcare got it AT THE SAME TIME that I SAVE MONEY. It's tragic that so many 'concerned' citizens seem to relish marooning millions of America's kids in poverty and sickness when fixing Nixon's blunder would be cheaper nationally and personally. Sick people are dependent, healthy ones are not. Sooooo... being against healthcare for ALL Americans is not only a sign of moral impoverishment, but a sign of being a monetary... 'Little League' player. ~Ruff "

" Hillary Clinton is the only candidate that can take on the Republicans and win rights for us in the middle classes. The sooner all of you understand that, the better off we all will be. "