Wednesday, February 27, 2008
School Bus Fight - video
A student on a school bus in Gilbert, Arizona gets into an argument with the driver when the driver won't let the student off the bus. The confrontation escalates, and the driver's daughter even gets into the action.
Report: Lewis to endorse Obama
WASHINGTON - Civil rights leader John Lewis has dropped his support for Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential bid in favor of Barack Obama, according to a newspaper report Wednesday.
Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Atlanta, is the most prominent black leader to defect from Clinton's campaign in the face of near-majority black support for Obama in recent voting. He also is a superdelegate who gets a vote at this summer's national convention in Denver.
"It's been a long, hard difficult struggle to come to where I am," Lewis told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview. "But when I am, as a superdelegate, I plan to cast my vote at the convention for Barack Obama."
Lewis' constituents supported Obama roughly 3-to-1 in Georgia's Feb. 5 primary. His endorsement had been a coveted prize among the Democratic candidates thanks to his standing as one of the last major civil rights leaders of the 1960s.
Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota endorsed Obama on Wednesday, citing his record on trade.
"Senator Obama has never felt ... that NAFTA was good for America," Dorgan said in a campaign conference call with reporters.
Dorgan said Obama has supported key trade issues. "He and I feel the same way. We both believe in trade and plenty of it. We just insist it that it be fair to our country — the rules be fair."
NAFTA, the free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, is unpopular with blue-collar workers whose votes are critical in the Democratic primary Tuesday in Ohio.
Obama has won 11 straight primaries and caucuses since Super Tuesday, increased his advantage in the all-important delegate count and has attracted the support of his congressional colleagues. On Tuesday, he secured the endorsement of one-time presidential candidate Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut.
Clinton has been endorsed by 13 of her Senate colleagues, Obama 10.
Dorgan was an ally of former President Clinton and a vocal critic of President Bush. As chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee, he has led hearings on government accountability issues related to the Iraq war and hurricanes on the Gulf Coast.
Dorgan has built a reputation for championing populist farm programs, criticizing Republican free-trade policies and assailing big business. He made headlines in 2005 when he called for a windfall profits tax on major oil companies.
Last year, he authored a measured to block funding of a Department of Transportation pilot program required under NAFTA that would have opened the U.S. to cross-border long-haul Mexican tractor trailers. The program was opposed by the Teamsters Union, among others.
Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Atlanta, is the most prominent black leader to defect from Clinton's campaign in the face of near-majority black support for Obama in recent voting. He also is a superdelegate who gets a vote at this summer's national convention in Denver.
"It's been a long, hard difficult struggle to come to where I am," Lewis told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview. "But when I am, as a superdelegate, I plan to cast my vote at the convention for Barack Obama."
Lewis' constituents supported Obama roughly 3-to-1 in Georgia's Feb. 5 primary. His endorsement had been a coveted prize among the Democratic candidates thanks to his standing as one of the last major civil rights leaders of the 1960s.
Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota endorsed Obama on Wednesday, citing his record on trade.
"Senator Obama has never felt ... that NAFTA was good for America," Dorgan said in a campaign conference call with reporters.
Dorgan said Obama has supported key trade issues. "He and I feel the same way. We both believe in trade and plenty of it. We just insist it that it be fair to our country — the rules be fair."
NAFTA, the free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, is unpopular with blue-collar workers whose votes are critical in the Democratic primary Tuesday in Ohio.
Obama has won 11 straight primaries and caucuses since Super Tuesday, increased his advantage in the all-important delegate count and has attracted the support of his congressional colleagues. On Tuesday, he secured the endorsement of one-time presidential candidate Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut.
Clinton has been endorsed by 13 of her Senate colleagues, Obama 10.
Dorgan was an ally of former President Clinton and a vocal critic of President Bush. As chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee, he has led hearings on government accountability issues related to the Iraq war and hurricanes on the Gulf Coast.
Dorgan has built a reputation for championing populist farm programs, criticizing Republican free-trade policies and assailing big business. He made headlines in 2005 when he called for a windfall profits tax on major oil companies.
Last year, he authored a measured to block funding of a Department of Transportation pilot program required under NAFTA that would have opened the U.S. to cross-border long-haul Mexican tractor trailers. The program was opposed by the Teamsters Union, among others.
Monday, February 25, 2008
CLINTON STAFFERS CIRCULATE 'DRESSED' OBAMA
CLINTON STAFFERS CIRCULATE 'DRESSED' OBAMA
Mon Feb 25 2008 06:51:00 ET
With a week to go until the Texas and Ohio primaries, stressed Clinton staffers circulated a photo over the weekend of a "dressed" Barack Obama.
The photo, taken in 2006, shows the Democrat frontrunner fitted as a Somali Elder, during his visit to Wajir, a rural area in northeastern Kenya.
The senator was on a five-country tour of Africa.
"Wouldn't we be seeing this on the cover of every magazine if it were HRC?" questioned one campaign staffer, in an email obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT.
In December, the campaign asked one of its volunteer county coordinators in Iowa to step down after the person forwarded an e-mail falsely stating that Barack Obama is a Muslim.
Obama campaign manager David Plouffe quickly accused the Clinton campaign Monday of 'shameful offensive fear-mongering' for circulating the snap.
Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams responds: "If Barack Obama's campaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somali clothing is divisive, they should be ashamed."
EDITOR'
S NOTE: Other leaders have worn local costumes:
Obama gains ground on Clinton in Ohio
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama gained ground against rival Hillary Clinton in the battleground U.S. state of Ohio on Monday as their race took a negative turn.
With a week to go until a potentially pivotal vote in Ohio and Texas on March 4, a Quinnipiac University poll said Clinton leads Obama in Ohio by 51 percent to 40 percent among likely Democratic voters.
This was a narrowing from 55 percent to 34 percent lead she held less than two weeks ago, and was a sign that Obama's momentum was paying dividends in Ohio.
New York Sen. Clinton needs big victories in Ohio and Texas to salvage her campaign to be the Democratic nominee in the November election after losing 11 straight contests to Obama, a first-term Illinois senator.
She was to give a foreign policy speech in Washington on Monday.
Independent Ralph Nader, 74, defended his decision to make a late entry into the presidential race. Nader was blamed by many Democrats for taking votes away from Vice President Al Gore in Florida in 2000, helping Republican George W. Bush win the presidency.
"I think the two parties have spoiled our electoral and political system," he told CBS.
Clinton's aura of inevitability has been shattered in recent weeks by her string of losses, and the talk of Washington was whether she would be able to remain a viable candidate if she registers more losses on March 4.
Robert Novak, a conservative who is a syndicated columnist published in The Washington Post, wrote on Monday that Democratic Party elders were asking: "Who will tell her that it's over, that she cannot win the presidential nomination and that the sooner she leaves the race, the more it will improve the party's chances of defeating (Republican) Sen. John McCain in November?"
Clinton, after a fairly civil debate with Obama last Thursday in Texas during which she said she was honored to share the stage with him, has spent the last couple of days complaining about Obama's tendency to deliver speeches long on hope and short on substantive details.
"I could just stand up here and say 'Let's just get everybody together, let's get unified.' The sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect," she said at a rally on Sunday in Providence, Rhode Island, which also votes on March 4.
A photograph of Obama, dressed as a Somali elder with white headdress and matching robe, created a stir when it was posted on the popular Drudge Report web site on Monday and the accompanying article said it had been circulated by Clinton campaign staffers.
The Obama campaign was incensed.
The Drudge Report said the photo was taken in 2006 and shows the Democratic front-runner fitted as a Somali Elder, during his visit to Wajir, a rural area in northeastern Kenya. Obama has fought a whispering campaign from fringe elements that say erroneously he is a Muslim.
"On the very day that Senator Clinton is giving a speech about restoring respect for America in the world, her campaign has engaged in the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we've seen from either party in this election," said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe.
Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams said in a statement: "Enough."
"If Barack Obama's campaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somali clothing is divisive, they should be ashamed. Hillary Clinton has worn the traditional clothing of countries she has visited and had those photos published widely," Williams said.
She called the flap "nothing more than an obvious and transparent attempt to distract from the serious issues confronting our country today and to attempt to create the very divisions they claim to decry."
(Editing by David Wiessler)
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Clinton: Obama 'change you can Xerox'
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent
AUSTIN, Texas - Hillary Rodham Clinton accused presidential rival Barack Obama of political plagiarism Thursday night, but drew boos from a Democratic debate audience when she ridiculed him as the candidate of "change you can Xerox."
Obama dismissed the charge out of hand, then turned the jeers to applause when he countered, "What we shouldn't be spending time doing is tearing each other down. We should be spending time lifting the country up."
The exchange marked an unusually pointed moment in an otherwise civil encounter in the days before March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio — contests that even some of Clinton's supporters say she must win to sustain her campaign for the White House.
The former first lady has lost 11 straight primaries and caucuses, and trails her rival in convention delegates. Obama has won a pair of big union endorsements in the past two days.
In a university auditorium in the heart of Texas, the two rivals agreed that high-tech surveillance measures are preferable to construction of a fence to curtail illegal immigration.
They disagreed on the proper response to a change in government in Cuba in the wake of Fidel Castro's resignation. Clinton said she would refuse to sit down with incoming President Raul Castro until he implements political and economic reforms. Obama said he would meet "without preconditions," but added the U.S. agenda for such a session would include human rights in the Communist island nation.
They also sparred frequently about health care, a core issue of the campaign.
Clinton said repeatedly that Obama's plan would leave 15 million Americans uncovered.
But he, in turn, accused the former first lady of mishandling the issue by working in secrecy when her husband was in the White House.
"I'm going to do things differently," he said. "We can have great plans, but if we don't change how the politics is working in Washington, then neither of our plans are going to happen."
Clinton was combative and complimentary by turns, and reflected on her well-known personal struggles in the debate's final moments.
"Everyone here knows I've lived through some crises and some challenging moments in my life," she said — a thinly veiled but clear reference to her husband's affair with Monica Lewinsky and subsequent impeachment. But she added that nothing she had been through matched the everyday struggles of voters.
Then, offering unprompted praise to her rival, the one-time front-runner said, "No matter what happens in this contest, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama."
Both candidates were plainly popular with the debate audience. During one break someone in the crowd shouted "Si se puede," Spanish for Obama's trademark phrase, "Yes we can."
Clinton largely sidestepped a question about so-called superdelegates, members of Congress, governors and party leaders who were not picked in primaries and caucuses. She said the issue would sort itself out, and "we'll have a unified Democratic party" for the fall campaign.
But Obama, who has won more primaries and caucuses said the contests must "count for something ... that the will of the voters ... is what ultimately will determine who our next nominee is going to be."
Clinton went into the debate needing a change in the course of the campaign, and waited patiently for an opening to try to diminish her rival, seated inches away on the stage. "I think you can tell from the first 45 minutes Senator Obama and I have a lot in common," she said.
Barely pausing for breath, she went on to say there were differences.
First, she said she had seen a supporter of Obama interviewed on television recently, and unable to name a single accomplishment the Illinois senator had on his record.
"Words are important and words matter but actions speak louder than words," she said.
Obama agreed with that, then noted that Clinton lately had been urging voters to turn against him by saying, "let's get real."
"And the implication is that the people who've been voting for me or are involved in my campaign are somehow delusional," Obama said.
Clinton also raised Obama's use in his campaign speeches of words first uttered by his friend, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
"If your candidacy is going to be about words then they should be your own words," she said. "...Lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox."
The debate audience booed.
Obama said the entire controversy was evidence of a "silly season" that the public finds dispiriting. Besides, he said of his speeches at one point, "I've got to admit, some of them are pretty good."
The two rivals sat next to one another in swivel chairs in a University of Texas auditorium for the 90-minute debate, one in a dwindling number of opportunities for the former first lady to chart a new course in the presidential race.
She has lost 11 straight primaries and caucuses to Obama — including an overseas competition for support among Americans living aboard — and has fallen behind in the chase for the number of delegates needed to become the presidential nominee.
Obama's strong showing has made him the man to beat in a historic struggle between a black man and a white woman, and even former President Bill Clinton has said his wife must win both Ohio and Texas early next month to preserve her candidacy. New polls show Texas a dead heat, and give Clinton a lead in Ohio, but far smaller than the one she held in recent weeks.
Rhode Island and Vermont also vote on March 4, but offer far fewer delegates and have drawn less attention.
The encounter was the 19th in an episodic series of debates and forums, a run that has ranged from highly civilized to hotly confrontational.
The last time the two met, in Los Angeles, they sat side by side and disagreed politely. But in an earlier encounter last month, in Myrtle Beach, S.C., each accused the other of repeatedly and deliberately distorting the truth for political gain in a highly personal, finger-wagging showdown.
In The Associated Press' delegate count Thursday, Obama had 1,358.5 to 1,264 for Clinton. It takes 2,025 delegates to claim the nomination at this summer's convention.
In a further sign of his growing strength, Obama won the endorsement during the day of the Change to Win labor federation, which claims 6 million members. The Teamsters union announced its support for Obama on Wednesday.
The debate was sponsored by CNN, Univision and the Texas Democratic Party.
AUSTIN, Texas - Hillary Rodham Clinton accused presidential rival Barack Obama of political plagiarism Thursday night, but drew boos from a Democratic debate audience when she ridiculed him as the candidate of "change you can Xerox."
Obama dismissed the charge out of hand, then turned the jeers to applause when he countered, "What we shouldn't be spending time doing is tearing each other down. We should be spending time lifting the country up."
The exchange marked an unusually pointed moment in an otherwise civil encounter in the days before March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio — contests that even some of Clinton's supporters say she must win to sustain her campaign for the White House.
The former first lady has lost 11 straight primaries and caucuses, and trails her rival in convention delegates. Obama has won a pair of big union endorsements in the past two days.
In a university auditorium in the heart of Texas, the two rivals agreed that high-tech surveillance measures are preferable to construction of a fence to curtail illegal immigration.
They disagreed on the proper response to a change in government in Cuba in the wake of Fidel Castro's resignation. Clinton said she would refuse to sit down with incoming President Raul Castro until he implements political and economic reforms. Obama said he would meet "without preconditions," but added the U.S. agenda for such a session would include human rights in the Communist island nation.
They also sparred frequently about health care, a core issue of the campaign.
Clinton said repeatedly that Obama's plan would leave 15 million Americans uncovered.
But he, in turn, accused the former first lady of mishandling the issue by working in secrecy when her husband was in the White House.
"I'm going to do things differently," he said. "We can have great plans, but if we don't change how the politics is working in Washington, then neither of our plans are going to happen."
Clinton was combative and complimentary by turns, and reflected on her well-known personal struggles in the debate's final moments.
"Everyone here knows I've lived through some crises and some challenging moments in my life," she said — a thinly veiled but clear reference to her husband's affair with Monica Lewinsky and subsequent impeachment. But she added that nothing she had been through matched the everyday struggles of voters.
Then, offering unprompted praise to her rival, the one-time front-runner said, "No matter what happens in this contest, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama."
Both candidates were plainly popular with the debate audience. During one break someone in the crowd shouted "Si se puede," Spanish for Obama's trademark phrase, "Yes we can."
Clinton largely sidestepped a question about so-called superdelegates, members of Congress, governors and party leaders who were not picked in primaries and caucuses. She said the issue would sort itself out, and "we'll have a unified Democratic party" for the fall campaign.
But Obama, who has won more primaries and caucuses said the contests must "count for something ... that the will of the voters ... is what ultimately will determine who our next nominee is going to be."
Clinton went into the debate needing a change in the course of the campaign, and waited patiently for an opening to try to diminish her rival, seated inches away on the stage. "I think you can tell from the first 45 minutes Senator Obama and I have a lot in common," she said.
Barely pausing for breath, she went on to say there were differences.
First, she said she had seen a supporter of Obama interviewed on television recently, and unable to name a single accomplishment the Illinois senator had on his record.
"Words are important and words matter but actions speak louder than words," she said.
Obama agreed with that, then noted that Clinton lately had been urging voters to turn against him by saying, "let's get real."
"And the implication is that the people who've been voting for me or are involved in my campaign are somehow delusional," Obama said.
Clinton also raised Obama's use in his campaign speeches of words first uttered by his friend, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
"If your candidacy is going to be about words then they should be your own words," she said. "...Lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox."
The debate audience booed.
Obama said the entire controversy was evidence of a "silly season" that the public finds dispiriting. Besides, he said of his speeches at one point, "I've got to admit, some of them are pretty good."
The two rivals sat next to one another in swivel chairs in a University of Texas auditorium for the 90-minute debate, one in a dwindling number of opportunities for the former first lady to chart a new course in the presidential race.
She has lost 11 straight primaries and caucuses to Obama — including an overseas competition for support among Americans living aboard — and has fallen behind in the chase for the number of delegates needed to become the presidential nominee.
Obama's strong showing has made him the man to beat in a historic struggle between a black man and a white woman, and even former President Bill Clinton has said his wife must win both Ohio and Texas early next month to preserve her candidacy. New polls show Texas a dead heat, and give Clinton a lead in Ohio, but far smaller than the one she held in recent weeks.
Rhode Island and Vermont also vote on March 4, but offer far fewer delegates and have drawn less attention.
The encounter was the 19th in an episodic series of debates and forums, a run that has ranged from highly civilized to hotly confrontational.
The last time the two met, in Los Angeles, they sat side by side and disagreed politely. But in an earlier encounter last month, in Myrtle Beach, S.C., each accused the other of repeatedly and deliberately distorting the truth for political gain in a highly personal, finger-wagging showdown.
In The Associated Press' delegate count Thursday, Obama had 1,358.5 to 1,264 for Clinton. It takes 2,025 delegates to claim the nomination at this summer's convention.
In a further sign of his growing strength, Obama won the endorsement during the day of the Change to Win labor federation, which claims 6 million members. The Teamsters union announced its support for Obama on Wednesday.
The debate was sponsored by CNN, Univision and the Texas Democratic Party.
Bryant’s 41 helps Lakers spoil O’Neal’s Phoenix debut, 130-124
By BOB BAUM, AP Sports WriterAP - Feb 20, 9:55 pm EST
1 of 10 NBA Gallery PHOENIX (AP)—Kobe Bryant spoiled Shaquille O’Neal’s debut with Phoenix. The Suns believe with the big guy just getting started, there are better days ahead.
Bryant, despite his dislocated right pinkie, scored 41 points to help the Lakers to an intense 130-124 victory over Phoenix on Wednesday night.
Lakers newcomer Pau Gasol added 29, including a breakaway dunk that put Los Angeles up 123-117 with 1:15 to play. Lamar Odom added 22 for the Lakers, who won their sixth in a row to move into a tie with Phoenix atop the Pacific Division.
O’Neal scored nine of his 15 points in the final quarter and grabbed nine rebounds in 29 minutes against his old team in his first game in nearly a month.
“I’m in better shape than I thought I was,” he said, “the adrenaline factor and just being out there with the guys.”
O’Neal came to the Suns a week ago in an unexpected trade that sent Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Miami. O’Neal played for the Lakers from 1996-2004.
“He did seem to get stronger as the game went on, which is incredible,” Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I did really think he’d run out of steam sometime in the second half, and he really didn’t. Him not being used to anything that we do—124 points—I didn’t think we could put that many up, just starting out.”
Amare Stoudemire had 37 points and 15 rebounds for Phoenix, while Steve Nash added 26 points and eight assists, and Leandro Barbosa and Grant Hill each had 17 points.
“I think everyone was excited for the game and to lose is difficult,” Nash said, “but I think if you take a step back it’s encouraging. I thought Shaquille was great, and I think the possibilities are very exciting.”
The Lakers improved to 3-1 against the Suns, clinching the season series and knocking Phoenix out of a virtual tie with New Orleans for the best record in the West.
“The really important part of this is the season series,” Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson said. “We now have an advantage if this is going to be a tight race as it’s been. That’s all you get out of a game like that: momentum, obviously, and some confidence for our team.”
Bryant moved past David Robinson into 27th on the NBA’s career scoring list.
“It was a familiar energy in the building,” he said. “It felt like a playoff-type of environment. It was fun to be a part of.”
O’Neal’s debut came against the team he led to three NBA titles, and the visitors were in control most of the way.
Los Angeles, which routed Atlanta on Tuesday night at home, led by as many as 13 in the first half and was up 65-57 at the break.
Phoenix finally caught up when O’Neal forced a turnover, then scored on a short hook inside to make it 87-87 with 2:31 left in the period. Gasol’s hook shot at the buzzer gave Los Angeles a 95-91 lead entering the fourth.
After Bryant’s layup made it 105-97, rookie D.J. Strawberry twice passed to Barbosa for breakaway layups, then drew an offensive foul against Bryant. Stoudemire followed with a three-point play and Phoenix led for the first time since the early minutes 107-106 with 7:26 remaining.
The Lakers came back, though, and Gasol’s three-point play with 5:43 left capped a 9-2 spurt to put Los Angeles ahead 115-108 5:43 from the end. But O’Neal scored the next six points, the last two on a goaltending call against Bryant, to cut it to 115-114. O’Neal sprinted to the defensive end of the floor after the two points.
Phoenix Suns' Shaquille O'Neal…
AP - Feb 21, 12:27 am EST
Bryant scored inside to put Los Angeles up 117-114 with 4:04 to play. Moments later, O’Neal slammed teammate Raja Bell in the head with an elbow, forcing the Suns guard out of the game. O’Neal made one of two free throws to cut the lead to 117-115 with 3:40 to go.
Bryant’s 19-footer made it to 119-115 with 2:50 to go, but Nash’s two free throws, on Derrick Fisher’s fifth foul, cut the lead to 119-117 with 1:49 remaining.
Odom got free for a layup, Gasol got his breakaway, and it was over.
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