Blogging Fusion Blog Directory is a premiere blog directory on the internet. There are (2,406 blogs) submitted and we are growing very rapidly. We help bloggers get more exposure. Whether you're looking to promote your own blog to increase revenue, backlinks, readership or improve your search engine visibility, this blog directory is for you. Submit your blog today and increase your traffic & exposure. Blogging Fusion Blog Directory is search engine friendly and updated often.
No blog reviews yet! Be the first to write a review. Click the Review Blog icon above.
Add the Review Me Button to your Blog!
<a href="http://www.bloggingfusion.com/review-blog-3021.html"><img src="http://www.bloggingfusion.com/images/linkware/review-me-at-blogging-fusion.png" alt="Review Mini-Polis: Political Blog at Blogging Fusion Blog Directory" style="border:0px;" /></a>
Today, as expected, Hillary Clinton made a thank you speech to her supporters that served both as her announcement of the suspension of the campaign and as a venue to endorse Barack Obama. She spoke, to the applause of the audience, "The way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand, is to take our energy, our passion, our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States. Today as I suspend my campaign I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary campaign he has run. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him. And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have worked for me". What follows is a glowing endorsement of Barack Obama that can be viewed in the uploaded video segment. This speech is incredibly important, because it signals that the Democratic party will not still be divided going into the convention. Her glowing endorsement of Barack Obama, as opposed to what could have been simply a concession of defeat, is incredibly important as it helps to ensure that the citizens motivated for the first time to vote for Senator Clinton will not slip back into the cracks. The endorsement seemed as if it might be related in timing to the visit between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton this past Thursday, and looks as if Senator Clinton is attempting to position herself as the Vice Presidential nominee.
Recently, several newspapers have reported that John Edward's has no interest in being the Vice President on this year's Democratic ticket. This revelation puts further emphasis on the possibility of a joint ticket between Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton. Last night, further hints at the possibility of the "dream ticket" emerged when Senator Obama and Clinton met for a private one on one meeting last night, held at a friends house, where they conversed for roughly an hour before coming out in what was reported as high spirits. CNN also released a poll conducted shortly after Obama clenched the nomination, in which they found that 54% of registered Democrats would like to see Senator Clinton become the VP nominee. However, there also seemed to be a gender split, in which female Democrats were much more in favor of the "dream ticket" than were men. Despite the bitterness between the candidates over the past months, a joint-ticket would do wonders to help quickly unify the party, and despite some potential negative consequences, the potential of having the first black President and the first woman Vice Presidential, is a monumental feat for America which would come with resounding, uplifting social effects. To think that only 40 years ago, our country was being ripped apart by racial divides, that 90 years ago women were unable to vote, that our country was founded on the economics of slavery, and that now we are on the precipice of electing not just a black man and a woman to office, but affirming the possibility for true social change and the continuing aspiration for greatness, in a country that has forgotten what we stand for.
"'What are you, some kind of a nut?' Mr. Rumsfeld cut in, drawing laughter. 'You don?t believe in the Constitution?'" (NY Times)
I don?t know if it is just me, but government officials joking about breaking the Constitution doesn?t give me a great amount of confidence in our country. Last month, the New York Times released an expose on the connection between the Pentagon and senior military news analysts from all of the major cable TV networks. The article, formulated from the release of Department of Defense documents obtained by the New York Times through a lawsuit, reveal the true extent to which the current administration has been manipulating the American public. Select quotes from the New York Times article read, "Internal Pentagon documents repeatedly refer to the military analysts as ?message force multipliers? or ?surrogates? who could be counted on to deliver administration ?themes and messages? to millions of Americans ?in the form of their own opinions?", and "Over time, the Pentagon recruited more than 75 retired officers, although some participated only briefly or sporadically. The largest contingent was affiliated with Fox News, followed by NBC and CNN, the other networks with 24-hour cable outlets. But analysts from CBS and ABC were included, too" (NY Times).
While it may seem impossible like something like this could have occurred, it becomes very plausible, and even probable, when you consider the consolidation of media distribution and the incentives for the military analysts. First, it is necessary to realize that almost all news/opinion media (Movies, Radio, Television, Magazines with the exception to some extent of the internet) is almost completely dominated by what "The Nation" refers to as "The Big Ten" (The Nation). Comprised of AOL / Time Warner, General Electric, Viacom, Walt Disney, Liberty Media Corporation, AT&T, News Corporation, Bertelsmann, Vivendi Universal, and Sony, these ten companies control virtually everything that comes out of a television or a radio set in the United States (The Nation).
The military analysts on the other hand have huge incentives to not criticize the war in Iraq. As the New York Times article makes clear (through direct quotes and interviews), military analysts feel that if they criticize the government they will lose access to war information, which, given that many are also involved in military industrial firms, creates a huge financial incentive to stay on the good side of the government.
When this centralized broadcasting force meets with analysts who have every incentive to change the rules of the reporting game, we are going to inevitably run into trouble. The prolific, and meticulously planned and executed nature of this Pentagon media distribution system has done more than just realize the ability to control and influence what the American public sees and thinks, it has in a large part been responsible for our continued presence in Iraq.
This system has been in place since roughly 2002. It was implemented to portray the threat of Iraq as much more imminent than it turned out to be, and it was re-amplified in wake of the retired General?s turning their backs on the war. "It was time, an internal Pentagon strategy memorandum urged, to ?re-energize surrogates and message-force multipliers,? starting with the military analysts" (NY Times). And it worked.
Regardless of whether one thinks that the war in Iraq is a positive or negative thing, it is imperative as a believer in the principles of democracy to be infuriated by the thought of leaders consciously and systematically manipulating the American people.
We as Americans need to put our foot down and say that this is not alright. It is ironic to think that Bill Clinton was impeached by Congress because of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and that most likely, nothing will happen to the current administration for this betrayal. Monica Lewinsky was news though. Everyone wanted to chat and talk about the Presidential scandal, it is not so humorous to talk about this manipulation, and thus it is less productive for Senators and Congressmen to dig deeper as the limelight will certainly be fainter. And guess what? The article has already moved to the bottom of the New York Times website, and (big surprise) it is not on the websites of any of the other major news companies.
It is our duty as independent thinkers and members of a democracy, to put our foot down, and say two things: we want our media to become more diversified and less centralized, and we will not tolerate government manipulation.
Today, after increasing pressure from the Democratic party it seems that Hillary Clinton's campaign will come to an end, and that she will endorse Senator Obama in an effort to help unite the sharply divided party. Her official announcement will come this upcoming Saturday. Many of her strongest supporters are now attempting to lobby for Senator Clinton to become the Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket. Robert Johnson, founder of BET, has written a letter urging the Congressional Black Caucus to promote the idea of Hillary Clinton as the Vice President, in the hopes that a joint Obama - Clinton ticket would be unstoppable come November. While this may be true, you can be assured that if Clinton becomes the Vice Presidential nominee, the Republican Party will surely revamp her attacks against Obama made during the primary campaigning to once again try to divide sentiment in the party. Also, his concession of the vice presidential slot to Senator Clinton, would in many ways destroy his well maintained image of not bending to special interests and contributions. In the next week we can expect Senator Clinton to bow out of the race with a shining endorsement of Barack Obama. Obama in the meantime will be traveling to Virginia to start his general election campaign in what he sees as a potential battleground in November. Obama and his campaign have made clear that they are not in a hurry to announce a running mate, and thus you can expect them to wait for some of the intra-party division and animosity to die down before making a decision.
Last night Senator Obama sealed the Nomination for the Democratic Party, becoming the first African American ever to do so. Even though he has clinched the nomination, Senator Clinton still has yet to suspend her campaign. If she does not end her campaign and give Obama a glowing endorsement, the party will effectually still be divided, and Sen. Obama will have a upwards battle against both Clinton supporters and McCain supporters come November. Rumors now circulate about whether Obama will offer Clinton a Vice Presidential spot on the Democratic ticket. While it would serve to help unite the party, it may be useful for him to consider using his Vice Presidential slot for someone that will bring in a unique battle ground constituency such as the Latino vote. Considering the long, drawn out, and often times scathing battle between these two candidates, a double ticket will surely not come without its fair share of animosity and bitterness.
Senator Clinton won the Puerto Rico primary today with 68% percent of the vote, compared to Obama's 32%. This is a commanding victory, however it does not do a whole lot in way of improvining Sen. Clinton's odds in the nomination. The delegate total is now 2,070 to 1,915 in favor of Senator Obama, with 2118 needed to secure the nomination now that half of the votes from Michigan and Florida will be seated at the DNC. More significantly, however this primary battle serves to further highlight the issue Barack Obama has in carrying Latino support. While Puerto Rico does not vote in the General Election, the overwhelming support for Clinton over Obama among Latino voters needs to be seriously address by the Obama campaign. This could possibly herald Bill Richardson as a possible vice presidential selection, as a Latino Vice President would surely curb his problems among the Latino population.
Blog Directory ID: 3021
Blog URL: http://www.mini-polis.blogspot.com
Google Pagerank: N/A
Blog Description: An independent political blog for commentary, discussion, and hard hitting analysis of the latest political events and issues.
Blog Tags: politics - political - hillary clinton - barack obama - president - election - john mccain - nominee
Blog Category: Political Blogs
Blog Owner: Kast
Blog Added: June 07, 2008 11:44:05 PM
Audience Rating: General Audience
Blogger/BlogSpot
Blog Country: 
United States
My Yahoo! 
Report Blog Listing - 
Refer Blog Listing - 
Print Listing
Total Visits: 8
Blog Rating: 0.00
Rate Blog: 
