Socks

Former First Cat Socks was euthanized on Friday. He was 19 or 20 years old and had been diagnosed with cancer. Socks was a stray who was adopted by Chelsea Clinton when her father was governor of Arkansas. When Clinton was elected president, Socks moved to the White House and was so popular the White House had to issue a statement asking reporters to leave him alone. Socks had his own fan club and was featured in many books including one written by Hillary Rodham Clinton called Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets. Not to be outdone by his family, Socks was involved in his own scandal when Indiana's Republican Representative, Dan Burton questioned the use of White House staff and postage to answer the many letters Socks received.

When the Clinton's left the White House, Socks went to live with Clinton's' secretary Betty Currie. She and Socks had become very attached over the years and she asked if she could keep him. In the last few years Socks made few public appearances choosing to enjoy the company of his family, his special home-made chicken dinners, and the occasional visit from his former family.

The Clinton's issued this statement: "Socks brought much happiness to Chelsea and us over the years, and enjoyment to kids and cat lovers everywhere. We're grateful for those memories, and we especially want to thank our good friend, Betty Currie, for taking such loving care of Socks for so many years."

Saturday Night Live

I'm really pleased with Obama's choice of Biden as his VP. While I think Hillary would have been a wonderful President or VP there would have been too much drama with BC's continuing bad behavior. Hillary supporters who are looking for someone to blame for her failure to obtain the nomination or to be offered the VP spot should look no further than her husband. He did more damage to her campaign than anyone else. BC was a wonderful president and the work he is doing with his foundation is also wonderful. I just wish he could have put his wife first for once in his life and helped her instead of hurting her during her campaign. The same goes for Edwards.

I have no idea whether anyone can undo the damage Bush has done to our country or to the rest of the world but if anyone can it's the democrats, not McCain.

Driving Miss Hillary

Voting

If early voting numbers are any indication, this will be a record breaking year for voter turnout in Texas. In Harris County, over 9,000 people voted early on the first day of the primary as opposed to 728 in 2004. Dallas showed a similiar increase. Other areas such as Austin, San Antonio, and El Paso also had huge increases. The Rio Grande Valley, which is thought to be HRC's strongest area of support had a higher turnout than in 2004 but the increase was not as dramatic as in other areas in Texas.
Everytime I vote I remember voting with my mom when I was really little. I believe it was at Mark Twain Elementary. The booths were large and had black curtains which you could close with a lever. When we got inside the booth and closed the curtain she let me pull the levers to vote. I probably voted for republicans. Sigh.

Obama vs. HRC vs. McCain in the polls

According to a new poll by Time, if the election was held today, Obama would get 48% of the vote to McCains 41%. If HRC is the nominee, she and McCain would each get 46%. Independents prefer Obama over McCain but prefer McCain over HRC which may account for the difference. Democrats prefer Clinton over Obama 48% to 42% and 62% would like HRC to name Obama as her running mate. Only 51% would like Obama to name HRC as his running mate.
I know it's just one poll and polls are often wrong but I'm convinced even more that Obama needs to be the nominee.

Our [B-word] will beat their [A-word]

Last week, one of McCain's supporters asked "So, how do we beat the bitch?" referring to Hillary, and McCain laughed. I wonder if he would have laughed if someone said how do we beat the heeb (Lieberman), the spic (Richardson), or the (n word) (Obama). This would have been the end of his campaign no doubt.



Today in the Washington Post Andi Zeisler, co-founder of Bitch Magazine answers the question of what the B-word really means in today's world.



"Bitch is a word we use culturally to describe any woman who is strong, angry, uncompromising and, often, uninterested in pleasing men. We use the term for a woman on the street who doesn't respond to men's catcalls or smile when they say, 'Cheer up, baby, it can't be that bad.' We use it for the woman who has a better job than a man and doesn't apologize for it. We use it for the woman who doesn't back down from a confrontation ... When these people call Clinton (or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or Sen. Dianne Feinstein or former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro) a bitch, or even the cutesier "rhymes-with-witch," it's an expression of pure sexism -- a hope that they can shut up not only one woman but every woman who dares to be assertive."



Hillary isn't my first choice but I think she will be an excellent president if elected. I do wish, and I think most people feel the same way, that the candidates would stick to the issues and stop the name calling and dirty politics. We will need the most capable person/persons to dig us out of the mess left by the current administration.

The unelectability of Hillary????

In an article in the Modesto Bee (11/30/07), novelist Mary Gordon is quoted as saying "I think no woman is electable in America, and particularly not Hillary because she is married to this guy whom everyone is libidinally attached to. I think there is unconscious sexual jealousy of her among women."
I guess that explains why Hillary is not my first choice. It's not her vote for the war in Iraq or any of her other positions I don't agree with, it's my jealousy of her relationship with Bill. Give me a break. If anything, her relationship to Bill makes me more inclined to support her candidacy. What thinking person wouldn't want Bill back in the White House even as First Whatever. The years of experience that Bill and Hillary bring to the office may be the only thing that can save us from the disastrous 8 years of W's regime.