Category Archives: Essays

Yesterday I read a funny piece by a Joel Stein in the L.A. Times explaining how he was actually a little embarrassed by his Obamamania. Sometimes I too watch Obama’s speeches, listen to the crowds chanting “Yes We Can” and think that there is something incredibly innocent and over-the-top about it all. And when I show Obama’s South Carolina speech and explain its importance to my co-workers here in Spain, they just think this confirms their idea of America’s strange cheerleading culture.

But what you have to understand here about Obama’s contagious hope is not that it may be impossible to achieve, but that millions of Americans are coming together with Obama to say that they are fed up with the nation’s politics. And more importantly, they are coming together to say that they want the country to be a better place for all. It is a remarkably powerful message and reflection that our nation is not rotten.

On the other side, I just read this op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by Peggy Noonan called, “Can Hillary Lose with Grace” that did a good job of explaining why Hillary is not the person to make this country a better place: Continue reading →

On Super Tuesday, the campaigners were already preparing for Spin Wednesday, the day after when they spin the results to make it look like they’re in the strategic lead, regardless of what the (Washington Post) diagram above and calendar may say. Continue reading →

It’s Super Tuesday, and I am not going to know anything until I wake up tomorrow morning (there’s a 9 hour time difference between Madrid and California). I know there’s a Democrats Abroad event tonight in Madrid where people will be following the elections. But you wouldn’t catch me dead labeling myself a Democrat (or a Republican for that matter) or wanting to spend a long evening with a mass of people who did.

By the looks of things, Hillary will win but her lead will have been drastically reduced. It’s hard to measure the reality of things from what the press is saying because the press, like any other business, is trying to sell its “product” by creating suspense and drama and therefore hoping for a long drawn out campaign. Let’s just hope Obama will hold his own, and get important delegates to keep the hope alive. Sure, we can continue to live under the status quo. We can go back to the Clintons and the Bushs, but wouldn’t it be nice to mix it up a little. There’s got to be a better way.

Over the course of the past few months as I have been following the elections (and ultimately given my support to the Obama campaign), I have found Eugene Robinson’s op-ed pieces in the Washington Post to be very insightful and on point. In his latest piece for called “The Baggage Hillary Bears“, Robinson raises the critically important questions that need to be answered about Bill Clinton’s role in a potential Hillary White House. For example,

Why won’t the Clintons speed up the release of White House papers that would let us see what kind of authority Hillary Clinton enjoyed? Who donated how much to the Clinton presidential library, and might those donors expect anything from a Hillary Clinton administration? What business tycoons have snuggled up to the former president, and what — other than the chance to bask in the radiance of his wit — did they hope to get out of the exercise?

Would Bill return to his foundation and its high-profile international projects? If so, would that work be coordinated with Hillary’s foreign policy? Could donors be sure that the foundation’s priorities were still being set independently, in accord with what they were told when they wrote the check?

Just the other day a New York Times article revealed a shady Kazakh uranium deal, possible political favors, an unknown shell company suddenly becoming one of the world’s largest uranium companies, and ultimately a large donation to Clinton’s foundation. According the New York Times’ investigation:

Just months after the Kazakh pact was finalized, Mr. Clinton’s charitable foundation received its own windfall: a $31.3 million donation from Mr. Giustra that had remained a secret until he acknowledged it last month. The gift, combined with Mr. Giustra’s more recent and public pledge to give the William J. Clinton Foundation an additional $100 million, secured Mr. Giustra a place in Mr. Clinton’s inner circle, an exclusive club of wealthy entrepreneurs in which friendship with the former president has its privileges.

Richard Cohen of the Washington Post also has an excellent piece on why, in a similar vain, he is endorsing Obama over Hillary. Kudos to the Washington Post! In any event, here is Robinson’s entire story about the questions we should be asking: Continue reading →