This smells of fascism!! and it's all happening just the way everyone said it would is the most fucked up part to me!
Friday, January 18, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
9/11 Japan Parliament 1/11/2008 Part 5 subs
Wow! this is video of the Japanese Parliament being questioned about 9/11, recently this was aired all over Japanese television. This video with the translation just came out, and it's fasinating to watch! I've posted the parts where they are being questioned about the incidents in New York.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Ron Paul Votes Not Counted In New Hampshire District
Major allegations of vote fraud in New Hampshire are circulating after Hillary Clinton reversed a mammoth pre-polling deficit to defeat Barack Obama with the aid of Diebold electronic voting machines, while confirmed votes for Ron Paul in the Sutton district were not even counted.
Ron Paul Votes Not Counted In New Hampshire District Vote fraud confirmed, Clinton reversed mammoth pre-polling deficit to beat Obama, Diebold machines aid Giuliani, Romney
Ron Paul Votes Not Counted In New Hampshire District Vote fraud confirmed, Clinton reversed mammoth pre-polling deficit to beat Obama, Diebold machines aid Giuliani, Romney
Prison Planet January 9, 2008 Paul Joseph Watson
Major allegations of vote fraud in New Hampshire are circulating after Hillary Clinton reversed a mammoth pre-polling deficit to defeat Barack Obama with the aid of Diebold electronic voting machines, while confirmed votes for Ron Paul in the Sutton district were not even counted.
According to a voter in Sutton, New Hampshire , three of her family members voted for Ron Paul, yet when she checked the voting map on the Politico website, the total votes for Ron Paul were zero.
It's not as if Sutton had a handful of voters like some other districts - a total of 386 people voted yet we are led to believe that not one voted for Ron Paul? Judging by the Iowa results, around 10% of residents would be expected to vote for the Congressman, returning a total of around 38 votes in this district. Let's be ultra-conservative and say just 5% support Paul - he'd still get 19 votes - but he got absolutely none whatsoever. Is there something wrong with this picture?
Greenville also tallied 144 votes yet not one for Congressman Paul.
Anyone else in Sutton who voted for Ron Paul needs to go public immediately with the charge of vote fraud and make it known that they were cheated out of their right to vote.
Diebold voting machines also did Congressman Paul no favors last night - compared to hand counted ballots Giuliani gained just short of 0.5% from electronic voting whereas Paul lost over 2%, which was the difference between finishing 4th and 5th, as this graph documents .
Mitt Romney profited the most from the Diebold swing, he received 7% more votes compared to hand counted ballots.
In the Democratic race the Diebold voting machines clearly swung the primary in Hillary Clinton's favor at the expense of Barack Obama, who had a commanding lead over the New York Senator going into the contest.
Zogby polling numbers had Obama leading Clinton by a whopping 42/29 per cent, yet Clinton eventually took the primary by three per cent.
"If I was Barack Obama, I'd certainly not have conceded this election this quickly," writes The Brad Blog . "I'm not quite sure what he was thinking. And as far as offering an indication of whether he understands how these systems work, and the necessity of making sure that votes are counted, and counted accurately, it does not offer a great deal of confidence at this hour."
"While I have no evidence at this time --- let me repeat, no evidence at this time --- of chicanery, what we do know is that chicanery, with this particular voting system, is not particularly difficult. Particularly when one private company --- and a less-than-respectable one at that, as I detailed in the previous post --- runs the entire process."
Clinton would not have beat Obama without the aid of Diebold voting machines. In precincts where electronic voting machines were used, Clinton got a 7% swing over Obama , having gained 5% in comparison to hand-counted ballots and Obama losing 2%.
As we reported yesterday , the contract for programming all of New Hampshire's Diebold voting machines, which combined counted 81 per cent of the vote yesterday, is owned by LHS Associates, whose owner John Silvestro has gone to great lengths to deflect accusations that the machines can easily be rigged.
After purchasing a Diebold 1.94w machine, the same system used in New Hampshire, a computer repair shop employee picked at random by Black Box Voting was able to zero in on the system's vulnerable memory card within just ten minutes. Hacking expert Harri Hursti testified in front of the New Hampshire legislature that the machines were wide open to fraud.
According to a voter in Sutton, New Hampshire , three of her family members voted for Ron Paul, yet when she checked the voting map on the Politico website, the total votes for Ron Paul were zero.
It's not as if Sutton had a handful of voters like some other districts - a total of 386 people voted yet we are led to believe that not one voted for Ron Paul? Judging by the Iowa results, around 10% of residents would be expected to vote for the Congressman, returning a total of around 38 votes in this district. Let's be ultra-conservative and say just 5% support Paul - he'd still get 19 votes - but he got absolutely none whatsoever. Is there something wrong with this picture?
Greenville also tallied 144 votes yet not one for Congressman Paul.
Anyone else in Sutton who voted for Ron Paul needs to go public immediately with the charge of vote fraud and make it known that they were cheated out of their right to vote.
Diebold voting machines also did Congressman Paul no favors last night - compared to hand counted ballots Giuliani gained just short of 0.5% from electronic voting whereas Paul lost over 2%, which was the difference between finishing 4th and 5th, as this graph documents .
Mitt Romney profited the most from the Diebold swing, he received 7% more votes compared to hand counted ballots.
In the Democratic race the Diebold voting machines clearly swung the primary in Hillary Clinton's favor at the expense of Barack Obama, who had a commanding lead over the New York Senator going into the contest.
Zogby polling numbers had Obama leading Clinton by a whopping 42/29 per cent, yet Clinton eventually took the primary by three per cent.
"If I was Barack Obama, I'd certainly not have conceded this election this quickly," writes The Brad Blog . "I'm not quite sure what he was thinking. And as far as offering an indication of whether he understands how these systems work, and the necessity of making sure that votes are counted, and counted accurately, it does not offer a great deal of confidence at this hour."
"While I have no evidence at this time --- let me repeat, no evidence at this time --- of chicanery, what we do know is that chicanery, with this particular voting system, is not particularly difficult. Particularly when one private company --- and a less-than-respectable one at that, as I detailed in the previous post --- runs the entire process."
Clinton would not have beat Obama without the aid of Diebold voting machines. In precincts where electronic voting machines were used, Clinton got a 7% swing over Obama , having gained 5% in comparison to hand-counted ballots and Obama losing 2%.
As we reported yesterday , the contract for programming all of New Hampshire's Diebold voting machines, which combined counted 81 per cent of the vote yesterday, is owned by LHS Associates, whose owner John Silvestro has gone to great lengths to deflect accusations that the machines can easily be rigged.
After purchasing a Diebold 1.94w machine, the same system used in New Hampshire, a computer repair shop employee picked at random by Black Box Voting was able to zero in on the system's vulnerable memory card within just ten minutes. Hacking expert Harri Hursti testified in front of the New Hampshire legislature that the machines were wide open to fraud.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Ron Paul Cut from Debates
By David KnowlesJan 2nd 2008 8:14AM
With the primary election season finally (mercifully) about to begin, two networks have given Ron Paul supporters a legitimate issue over which to cry "media conspiracy!" The two conglomerates in question, FOX and ABC, have summarily decided to exclude some candidates from forthcoming debates. While Paul may or may not make the roster for Saturday's ABC debate, he's definitely not being invited to Fox's on Sunday. Though Paul continues to lead the big AOL straw poll, proving that his followers spend more time online than any of the other candidates', the more traditional telephone surveys have not shown him attaining double digit levels of approval. But is that the whole story?
By David KnowlesJan 2nd 2008 8:14AM
With the primary election season finally (mercifully) about to begin, two networks have given Ron Paul supporters a legitimate issue over which to cry "media conspiracy!" The two conglomerates in question, FOX and ABC, have summarily decided to exclude some candidates from forthcoming debates. While Paul may or may not make the roster for Saturday's ABC debate, he's definitely not being invited to Fox's on Sunday. Though Paul continues to lead the big AOL straw poll, proving that his followers spend more time online than any of the other candidates', the more traditional telephone surveys have not shown him attaining double digit levels of approval. But is that the whole story?
Paul fans are particularly irate with Fox News, who seems to have pulled the plug on their man primarily because they don't agree with his ideas. How else to explain including Fred Thompson, the man who doesn't especially want to be president, at their January 6 round-table forum, while excluding Paul? While out-raising the entire GOP field in 4th-quarter fundraising with a total of over $19 million, Paul positively crushed Thompson, and "The Tennessee Stud's" poll numbers in Iowa and New Hampshire aren't exactly stellar.
The New Hampshire Republican Party isn't happy about Fox's decision, either. State party Chairman Fergus Cullen explains:
"...the New Hampshire Republican Party calls upon all media organizations planning pre-primary debates or forums for both parties to include all recognized major candidates in their events. The New Hampshire Republican Party has notified Fox News of our position..."
Fox isn't the only network to run afoul of the Paul campaign. Adding to the controversy, ABC has also decided to winnow the number of candidates on stage at a January 5th debate. This time, Paul may or may not make the cut. ABC's reasons, at least, seem somewhat more scientific.
The network has set new criteria for the debate, with candidates needing to meet one of three criteria: placing fiifh through fourth in the Iowa Caucuses, polling at higher than 5% in one of the last four major New Hampsshire polls, or polling at 5% or higher in one of the last four national polls.
While ABC is really just doing what a responsible media organization should, the motives behind Fox's preemptive decision to cut Ron Paul seem a touch more dubious. Paul and his fans have long been something of a thorn in Fox's backside. Following the previous Fox debates, they had the audacity to pick up the telephone and declare that Paul had done better than any of the other candidates, thereby winning each call-in poll. And, in one of the more memorable exchanges this year, Paul was asked by an incredulous Chris Wallace, "Are you running for the nomination of the wrong party?" Let's suppose for a moment that Paul comes in fourth in Iowa, ahead of Thompson? Would Fox still hold firm with its decision to exclude "Dr. No"? Stay tuned, Dear Viewers.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Hey, hi, and hello. Ok, ok, no blogging about Ron Paul today, unless i see some youtube video i like or hear anything otherwise. Well, it's the last day of the year and i figure i should take some time to reflect on the past year, cuz it's kind of felt like a big one for me.
I've learned to be more honest with myself and with the people i love. I have morphed from a self proclaimed liberal to a full on libertarian.
Ok, now this is where i'm gonna get into Ron Paul but it's just about how much he has impacted my life and opened my eyes and made me really, truly appreciate the truth.
Ya know the old saying,"and the truth shall set you free"? I remember Aaron wrote that in my "Crossfire: The Men Who Killed JFK", and that book along with a lot of other things did set me free when i found out all this suppressed information about what happened on the day, that even back then the mainstream media never told the American people.
A lot of people have coined the phase "Dr. Paul cured my apathy" and that's really what Ron Paul has done for me. I started finding out a lot of things that is leading the country deeper and deeper into, what Ron Paul calls "soft fascism" like the income tax, the IRS hand in hand with the Federal Reserve (which really isn't federal it's private) the NAFTA superhighway, the Military Commissions ACT, Patriot act 2, it just goes on and on.
Naomi Wolf, who is a hero to the left has wrote a beautiful peace called "The 10 Steps To Fascism" and in the piece she names every step, and we have crossed every one.
ya won't hear that on the nightly news.
Anyhow, i can't help but go back to the George Orwell quote over and over again,"In a world of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
And that is exactly what Ron Paul has done. People ask him how he got to raise so much money, but he hardly gets any coverage in the press, it's because the people that do listen to what he has to say are fucking blown away, cuz he's simply telling the truth.
And because of that, it's made me embrace the truth more and more in my life.
I mean just over the weekend i finally got enough balls together to finally ask justin a question about something that has been bothering me since the second we got together, cuz i knew in my heart of hearts there was something he wasn't telling me.
And i finally got the truth from him over the weekend, and ya know what? I felt like it did set me free, i feel this huge ugly cloud that had been hanging over me for 5 years just go away.
Granted there could of been a lot different ways i could of brought it up or handled it, but i was really at a loss on how to ever bring it up to him. No matter how i brought it up, it would of started a fight.
Finally, i just didn't care anymore if it did start a fight or not, it wouldn't be the first fight we've had.
When it comes to being told the truth anymore, i starve for it. ya watch the mainstream news everyday like i do, and behind the tiger story in California, is a story about the Mexican government wanting an id card for all it's workers, which just happens to have a microchip in every card.
Anyhow, it's also been a scary year. My brother almost died from a diabetic coma. My father had 2 mild heart attacks. My youngest daughter started pre-school (with no help from me but her uncle). Justin's mom moved away, which has been interesting from a bystanders point of view on how their family is handling it.
For me personally though, i feel like the year 2007 has been a giant awakening for me. This year i researched more into the JFK assassination and that vital piece of truth that our government is still with holding from us still eludes me, and a lot of other Americans for that matter.
Because of Alex Jones and Ron Paul i actually read the Constitution and the Bill Of Rights. I pretty much read it everyday now, like a Jesus Freak would read the Bible everyday.
The history of the founding of our country, and what lead up to that beautiful day of the signing of the Declaration of Independence fascinates me now.
I truly believe that to cause any real change in this country like a lot of us crave, we need to bring back the spirit of the American Revolution and stand up to tyranny. Do you know the revolution was only fought by 3% of the people?
That's why i have the Sam Adams (no not the beer) quote on my blog,"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds."
I was telling justin over the weekend, i can no longer vote for the lesser of two evils anymore. Not after someone so bravely and boldly like Ron Paul has run and has spoken out against tyranny, i can no longer vote for the lesser of two evils. NO more.
I can no longer live with myself and be happy with my conscience if i allow myself to vote for someone who will bring more of the same. And that's exactly what we will get if a Ron Paul or a Mike Gravel or a Dennis Kucinich does not get into office.
Happy New Year, i'm sick of writing now :-D Goodbye....
I've learned to be more honest with myself and with the people i love. I have morphed from a self proclaimed liberal to a full on libertarian.
Ok, now this is where i'm gonna get into Ron Paul but it's just about how much he has impacted my life and opened my eyes and made me really, truly appreciate the truth.
Ya know the old saying,"and the truth shall set you free"? I remember Aaron wrote that in my "Crossfire: The Men Who Killed JFK", and that book along with a lot of other things did set me free when i found out all this suppressed information about what happened on the day, that even back then the mainstream media never told the American people.
A lot of people have coined the phase "Dr. Paul cured my apathy" and that's really what Ron Paul has done for me. I started finding out a lot of things that is leading the country deeper and deeper into, what Ron Paul calls "soft fascism" like the income tax, the IRS hand in hand with the Federal Reserve (which really isn't federal it's private) the NAFTA superhighway, the Military Commissions ACT, Patriot act 2, it just goes on and on.
Naomi Wolf, who is a hero to the left has wrote a beautiful peace called "The 10 Steps To Fascism" and in the piece she names every step, and we have crossed every one.
ya won't hear that on the nightly news.
Anyhow, i can't help but go back to the George Orwell quote over and over again,"In a world of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
And that is exactly what Ron Paul has done. People ask him how he got to raise so much money, but he hardly gets any coverage in the press, it's because the people that do listen to what he has to say are fucking blown away, cuz he's simply telling the truth.
And because of that, it's made me embrace the truth more and more in my life.
I mean just over the weekend i finally got enough balls together to finally ask justin a question about something that has been bothering me since the second we got together, cuz i knew in my heart of hearts there was something he wasn't telling me.
And i finally got the truth from him over the weekend, and ya know what? I felt like it did set me free, i feel this huge ugly cloud that had been hanging over me for 5 years just go away.
Granted there could of been a lot different ways i could of brought it up or handled it, but i was really at a loss on how to ever bring it up to him. No matter how i brought it up, it would of started a fight.
Finally, i just didn't care anymore if it did start a fight or not, it wouldn't be the first fight we've had.
When it comes to being told the truth anymore, i starve for it. ya watch the mainstream news everyday like i do, and behind the tiger story in California, is a story about the Mexican government wanting an id card for all it's workers, which just happens to have a microchip in every card.
Anyhow, it's also been a scary year. My brother almost died from a diabetic coma. My father had 2 mild heart attacks. My youngest daughter started pre-school (with no help from me but her uncle). Justin's mom moved away, which has been interesting from a bystanders point of view on how their family is handling it.
For me personally though, i feel like the year 2007 has been a giant awakening for me. This year i researched more into the JFK assassination and that vital piece of truth that our government is still with holding from us still eludes me, and a lot of other Americans for that matter.
Because of Alex Jones and Ron Paul i actually read the Constitution and the Bill Of Rights. I pretty much read it everyday now, like a Jesus Freak would read the Bible everyday.
The history of the founding of our country, and what lead up to that beautiful day of the signing of the Declaration of Independence fascinates me now.
I truly believe that to cause any real change in this country like a lot of us crave, we need to bring back the spirit of the American Revolution and stand up to tyranny. Do you know the revolution was only fought by 3% of the people?
That's why i have the Sam Adams (no not the beer) quote on my blog,"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds."
I was telling justin over the weekend, i can no longer vote for the lesser of two evils anymore. Not after someone so bravely and boldly like Ron Paul has run and has spoken out against tyranny, i can no longer vote for the lesser of two evils. NO more.
I can no longer live with myself and be happy with my conscience if i allow myself to vote for someone who will bring more of the same. And that's exactly what we will get if a Ron Paul or a Mike Gravel or a Dennis Kucinich does not get into office.
Happy New Year, i'm sick of writing now :-D Goodbye....
Thursday, December 27, 2007
New York Times Retracts Ron Paul Racist Smear
New York Times December 27, 2007
A post in The Medium that appeared on Monday about the Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul and his purported adoption by white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups contained several errors.
Stormfront, which describes itself as a "white nationalist" Internet community, did not give money to Ron Paul's presidential campaign; according to Jesse Benton, a spokesman for Paul's campaign, it was Don Black, the founder of Stormfront, who donated $500 to Paul.
The original post also repeated a string of assertions by Bill White, the commander of the American National Socialist Workers Party, including the allegation that Paul meets regularly "with members of the Stormfront set, American Renaissance, the Institute for Historic Review and others" at a restaurant in Arlington, Va. Paul never attended these dinners, according to Benton, who also says that Paul has never knowingly met Bill White.
Norman Singleton, a congressional aide in Paul's office, says that he met Bill White at a dinner gathering of conservatives several years ago, after which Singleton expressed his indignation at the views espoused by White to the organizer of the dinner. The original post should not have been published with these unverified assertions and without any response from Paul.
New York Times December 27, 2007
A post in The Medium that appeared on Monday about the Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul and his purported adoption by white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups contained several errors.
Stormfront, which describes itself as a "white nationalist" Internet community, did not give money to Ron Paul's presidential campaign; according to Jesse Benton, a spokesman for Paul's campaign, it was Don Black, the founder of Stormfront, who donated $500 to Paul.
The original post also repeated a string of assertions by Bill White, the commander of the American National Socialist Workers Party, including the allegation that Paul meets regularly "with members of the Stormfront set, American Renaissance, the Institute for Historic Review and others" at a restaurant in Arlington, Va. Paul never attended these dinners, according to Benton, who also says that Paul has never knowingly met Bill White.
Norman Singleton, a congressional aide in Paul's office, says that he met Bill White at a dinner gathering of conservatives several years ago, after which Singleton expressed his indignation at the views espoused by White to the organizer of the dinner. The original post should not have been published with these unverified assertions and without any response from Paul.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Estulin: Neo-Cons Behind Potential Hit On Ron Paul Investigative reporter goes further on last week's revelations
Prison Planet December 23, 2007 Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet December 23, 2007 Paul Joseph Watson
Investigative reporter Daniel Estulin has gone further with his bombshell revelation first voiced last week that political insiders are considering a plot to assassinate Ron Paul, today identifying the Neo-Con camp as being behind the potential hit.
Appearing on The Alex Jones Show, Estulin said that his sources for the information were real patriots who love America and are desperate to see the truth get out, but that he always took the precaution of getting verification from more than one individual on each piece of information he releases.
"What I said about Ron Paul last week came from two different people who don't know each other," said Estulin, adding that his source had in turn got the information from sources within the Neo-Con camp and that it was individuals from within the Neo-Con camp that are considering what would happen if Ron Paul was assassinated.
Estulin stressed that to elaborate any further he would need to seek permission from those giving him the information to retain their confidence and trust.
"I am getting information from my sources that there are people involved from a higher level of the American establishment who are seriously considering - this has not been confirmed - but assassination is definitely on the agenda and I pray to God that this is not the case," Estulin first told Jones last week.
As we reported following the initial release of the information, Estulin, author of the global bestseller The True Story of the Bilderberg Group , described the concept as a "trial balloon from the inner core within the inner core - it hasn't gone beyond that but it is obviously on the table because I think needless to say they are very much concerned," he added.
Ron Paul himself has stated on a previous o ccasion that he is aware of the dangers of being such a bold icon for freedom and understands that political assassinations have occurred in the past.
In a June appearance on The Alex Jones Show, Congressman Paul acknowledged that such a threat is "real," agreeing with a number of historical examples where leaders were killed or attacked for successfully standing up to the system. "That's right. They'll do it," Paul said, making reference with Alex Jones to upstarts like Andrew Jackson, "The Kingfish" Huey Long, Bobby Kennedy, George Washington and even George Wallace.
Another secret service source told Estulin that the message scrolled across the bottom of the screen during Ron Paul's CNN interview on Tuesday, "Paul is dead, Paul is dead, Paul is dead," was potentially more than just a matter of quoting a joke made by Mike Huckabee about attacks on his campaign ads, but in fact could be taken as a threat or even a cue to Paul's would-be assassin.
Estulin noted that a similar thing occurred before the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968, but was quick to caution that he could not confirm the authenticity of the judgment that this was related to the consideration of a plot to kill the Congressman.
Click here to listen to the MP3 interview with Estulin.
FLASHBACK: Estulin: Elitists Consider Assassinating Ron Paul
Appearing on The Alex Jones Show, Estulin said that his sources for the information were real patriots who love America and are desperate to see the truth get out, but that he always took the precaution of getting verification from more than one individual on each piece of information he releases.
"What I said about Ron Paul last week came from two different people who don't know each other," said Estulin, adding that his source had in turn got the information from sources within the Neo-Con camp and that it was individuals from within the Neo-Con camp that are considering what would happen if Ron Paul was assassinated.
Estulin stressed that to elaborate any further he would need to seek permission from those giving him the information to retain their confidence and trust.
"I am getting information from my sources that there are people involved from a higher level of the American establishment who are seriously considering - this has not been confirmed - but assassination is definitely on the agenda and I pray to God that this is not the case," Estulin first told Jones last week.
As we reported following the initial release of the information, Estulin, author of the global bestseller The True Story of the Bilderberg Group , described the concept as a "trial balloon from the inner core within the inner core - it hasn't gone beyond that but it is obviously on the table because I think needless to say they are very much concerned," he added.
Ron Paul himself has stated on a previous o ccasion that he is aware of the dangers of being such a bold icon for freedom and understands that political assassinations have occurred in the past.
In a June appearance on The Alex Jones Show, Congressman Paul acknowledged that such a threat is "real," agreeing with a number of historical examples where leaders were killed or attacked for successfully standing up to the system. "That's right. They'll do it," Paul said, making reference with Alex Jones to upstarts like Andrew Jackson, "The Kingfish" Huey Long, Bobby Kennedy, George Washington and even George Wallace.
Another secret service source told Estulin that the message scrolled across the bottom of the screen during Ron Paul's CNN interview on Tuesday, "Paul is dead, Paul is dead, Paul is dead," was potentially more than just a matter of quoting a joke made by Mike Huckabee about attacks on his campaign ads, but in fact could be taken as a threat or even a cue to Paul's would-be assassin.
Estulin noted that a similar thing occurred before the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968, but was quick to caution that he could not confirm the authenticity of the judgment that this was related to the consideration of a plot to kill the Congressman.
Click here to listen to the MP3 interview with Estulin.
FLASHBACK: Estulin: Elitists Consider Assassinating Ron Paul
Friday, December 14, 2007
Ron Paul Remembers
This video was sent in for the TruthNews.us Ron Paul ad contest. This is my pick for the winner, i watched this and it made me cry :)
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Sunday, December 02, 2007
"In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way."
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
Clinton seizes opportunity after crisis
By: David Paul Kuhn Dec 1, 2007 12:56 AM EST
Clinton's appearances showed the campaign's White House experience.
Photo: AP
Friday afternoon began with possible tragedy: a hostage crisis at Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign office in Rochester, N.H.As the incident unfolded, Clinton’s campaign closed its doors and canceled her public appearances.
By: David Paul Kuhn Dec 1, 2007 12:56 AM EST
Clinton's appearances showed the campaign's White House experience.
Photo: AP
Friday afternoon began with possible tragedy: a hostage crisis at Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign office in Rochester, N.H.As the incident unfolded, Clinton’s campaign closed its doors and canceled her public appearances.
But nightfall brought a happy ending: the campaign workers safe, the man in police custody — and the New York senator flying to the scene to express thanks.
The hostage-taking itself offered a rare, if small, genuine drama in a campaign season governed by strict schedules and scripted stump speeches.
And as soon as it ended, Clinton took full advantage of the opportunity she had unexpectedly been handed.
In her New Hampshire press conference, she stood before a column of police in green and tan uniforms. She talked of meeting with hostages. She mentioned that she spoke to the state’s governor about eight minutes after the incident began.The scene was one of a woman in charge.
“It looked and sounded presidential,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “This was an instance of the White House experience of this campaign. They knew how to handle this.”
That the crisis was outside Clinton's control gave it a rare quality in this era of hyper-controlled politicking, Sabato added.“What’s most important about it is that it’s not contrived,” he said. “It’s a real event and that distinguishes it from 99 percent of what happens in the campaign season.”
Clinton’s campaign has long been dogged by key questions: Is she authentic, does she genuinely have the experience to be president and is the country ready for a woman as commander-in-chief — especially during wartime?
“She has never run anything. And the idea that she could learn to be president as an internship just doesn’t make any sense,” former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, said in one campaign ad.Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has argued the same line.
“I don’t know Hillary’s experience,” Giuliani has said. “She’s never run a city, she's never run a state. She’s never run a business. She has never met a payroll. She has never been responsible for the safety and security of millions of people, much less even hundreds of people.”
Looking the part
Friday presented Clinton with a moment to look the part of president.“You had one of these breaking news stories ... and so everybody was glued to the set,” said Robert Thompson, founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. “She got on TV and provided a sense of closure and executive cool. It is like how Giuliani used television during his crisis.
“There was a sense that this was a dress rehearsal of how she was going to deal with ... crisis as president,” Thompson added.
In her two public appearances after the hostages were freed, she was stern, but she also spoke of the concerns she felt as a mother, admitting to a “horrible sense of bewilderment” and “outrage.”
Her decision to express her personal anxieties offered a window into how she may veer into territory men avoid — personal feelings during a possible public tragedy.
The personal has at times been hard to find in Clinton. She heads the largest and most manicured of all operations.
Her campaign has an especially organized staff that surrounds her. She stays on script and she stays on schedule. Even as she flew to New Hampshire on Friday evening, she was planning to return to Iowa on Saturday in order to keep on schedule.
Her campaign has an especially organized staff that surrounds her. She stays on script and she stays on schedule. Even as she flew to New Hampshire on Friday evening, she was planning to return to Iowa on Saturday in order to keep on schedule.
What the hostage incident offered Clinton was a brief reprieve from the petty narrative of her versus Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, a break from what at times has devolved to intraparty bickering.
“Voters look for opportunities to see how candidates react in crisis,” Sabato said. “And this was a mini crisis.”
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