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Hillary Clinton is soaring these days. Both her worldwide influence and her domestic popularity are at an all-time peak.
Today Mrs. Clinton, 64, is being touted as a shoo-in for the 2016 democratic presidential nomination. (Or to replace Joe Biden later this year.)
If Hillary were nominated in 2016, she would be very hard to beat. As of now she is one of the most popular women in the United States.
Should Hillary run next time?
What do you think?
Yesterday the Vatican took a blow torch to the leadership conference of American nuns. Rome said the in the nuns’ leadership there was a prevalence of certain radical themes incompatible with the Catholic faith. American nuns did not sufficiently support the church’s teaching on abortion, same-sex marriage and the ordination of women priests. The Bishop of Seattle has been appointed to shake up the nuns’ leadersip conference from top to bottom.
Sister Joan Chittister says this another Vatican attempt to control people just for what they are thinking.
Should the Vatican crack down on American nuns?
What do you think?
A new book, just out on the Obamas by New York Times writer, Jodi Kantor, characterizes the first Lady as a behind-the scenes-force in the White House, whose strong views often draw her into conflict with President Obama’s top advisors. The Kantor book portrays a White House where tensions developed between Ms Obama and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and former press secretary Robert Gibbs.
Ms Obama denies this idea of conflict in the West Wing adding, “There will always be people who don’t like me.”
Do you like Michelle Obama? Is she a good first Lady?
Are there other first Ladies that you like or dislike?
My recollection is that Nancy Reagan took a scunner to her husband’s chief of staff (also named Reagan) and had him fired.
Is Michelle Obama ‘some kind of angry black woman?’
What do you think?
Well, sadly, we won’t have Herman Cain to kick around any more. The disgraced southener bailed out from the GOP presidential campaign, not because women accused him of sex but because his family is hurting.
Even so, Cain will have a few more minutes in the television sun. He says he will endorse another candidate and he will do so in the next few days.
I take it as a given that Cain will endorse either Romney or Gingrich and at the moment the odds favour the latter.
Is that a good thing. I suppose it depends on your viewpoint. Gingrich is now leading or near the top in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina or Florida. If he sweeps those states or even takes three of them, it will almost certainly be a mortal blow for the Romney camp. Cain’s support for Gingrich might well put him over the top and guarantee his nomination.
Such a development is very bad news for Romney and, I suggest, very good news for Romney. I say flatly if Gingrich is the nominee, Obama will defeat him easily, going away. Newt fancies himself as a high-powered intellectuals, a man of big ideas. What’s his latest big idea? Why, that the child labour laws be changed so that young children can be hired as janitors in the public school system. Some big idea!
However, if Cain endorses Romney, it gives the governor a leg up. If Romney is the nominee, it will be closer race and Obama will have a tougher time time winning.
Naturally, I hope Cain endorses Gingrich.
Who should Cain endorse?
What do you think?
Four women have publicly accused Herman Cain of sexually harassing them. Cain says they are all lying. Now a fifth women has stated that she and Cain had a 13-year affair that ended when he decided to run for president. Cain says she is lying. Oddly, Cain’s lawyer issued a statement saying an affair between consenting adults is nobody’s business but theirs. Cain now says he is reassessing his run for the Oval office.
Indeed Cain’s support is collapsing. The question is where will it go? The answer almost certainly is that it will go to Gingrich. Today’s Globe and Mail speaks of a “stampede” to Gingrich. He already leads Romney in Iowa and South Carolina and is within striking distance in New Hampshire.
This is very good news for Obama. He would beat Gingrich more easily than he would beat Romney. His operatives are salivating at the thought of Gingrich as the Republican nominee.
Sadly for the GOP, this presidential race has turned into a carnival. Perry, Bachman and now Cain are all losers who should not be running for the highest office in the land. Can you imagine a former pizza magnate with multiple charges of harassing women ending up in the White House. It boggles the mind. Cain’s sexual shenanigans have demeaned the whole race. It is a carnival in which the most impressive candidate, Jon Hunstman, does not get anywhere with these rock-ribbed conservatives.
Should Cain get out of the race now?
Is Cain hurting the GOP?
What do you think?
Canada sells more oil to the United States than any other country does. We planned to sell another 830,000 barrels a day through the Keystone project carrying oil from Alberta to Texas. But a telephone conversation between Hillary Clinton and President Obama has delayed the Keystone pipeline until after the 2012 election and maybe has killed it for good. This is another example of Obama refusing to make hard decisions and punting them down the road.
Angered by this political delay, the Harper government lost no time in talking tough. The government will now look to Asia for new oil markets. Canada’s ace in the hole is a Northern Gateway pipeline which will carry Alberta oil to the B.C. coast, then ship it to countries like China.
Harper also announced yesterday that Canada will formally ask to join the Trans-Pacific-Partnership trade group of nine Asia-Pacific countries.
Does this threat to sell oil to Asia strike you as an attempt to punish the United States for its perfidy on delaying the Keystone pipeline?
Can Canada afford to get into a trade war with the U.S.?
Should Canada go through with its threat to sell our oil to Asia?
What do you think?
Through her lawyer, one of Herman Cain’s accusers, Ms A, says she wants to tell her side of the story. But she is forbidden to do so by a confidentiality agreement she signed with the Restaurant Association at the time of the settlement. She received a settlement of $35,000 contingent on the fact that she mantain her silence. Her lawyer want the Restaurant Association to lift the agreement so that Ms A can speak openly.
Ms A’s basic argument is that Cain is going around the country telling lies about her situation and that it is only just that she be able to respond.
Should the Restaurant Association lift the confidentiality agreement so Ms A can speak?
If she speaks openly should Ms A be forced to return her $35,000 settlement?
Should Cain’s accuser be allowed to speak?
What do you think?
For the first time in the history of American jurisprudence a Roman Catholic bishop has been charged with sex abuse. If convicted he could pay a fine and spend a year in jail.
Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City is in the crosshairs for protecting one of his abuser priests. The accusation involved a priest accused of taking pornographic pictures of girls as recently as this year.
Bishop Finn admits he knew of the lewd pixes last December but he did not inform the police until may of this year. Meanwhile the priest in question,
Shawn Ratigan, continued to attend church events with children in attendance and he continued to take lewd pictures of another young girl.
Victims advocates say this case is a break through.
Bishop Finn will plead not guilty.
There are hundreds of Catholic bishops in the United States, many of whom shielded their priest abusers from the police.
should more Catholic bishops be charged with sex abuse?
What do you think?
I don’t understand why Canadian oil billionaires keep inviting George Bush up here to give a vapid speech at a hundred grand a pop.
But sure enough Bush will be up here again next week.
And as the same time, Amnesty International has come up with an interesting idea.
Amnesty has called on the Canadian government to investigate, arest and prosecute Bush for torture.
There is no doubt that Bush and his fellow war-criminal, Dick Cheney, signed off on water torture, a war cime recognized by the international community, including Canada.
So Bush and Cheney remain two unindicted war criminals.
Wouldn’t Canada stand tall if they nailed this guy.
What about a citizen’s arrest?
Should they try for Bush?
After months of political strip tease, Sarah Palin finally decided. She won’t run for president after all. Her explanation is that she puts her family, God and the country in that order.
Far more likely she looked at the data and threw up her hands. She has the highest unfavourable ratings of any politician in the country. An ABC poll just out says two-thirds of Republicans did not want palin to run. A late September poll on CNN showed that Mr. Obama would beat ms Palin by 21 percentage points if an election were held today.
Palin, in my view, is a semi-hysterical woman – a harridan of the first order. She won’t have any real influence on the campaign. Can you imgine any of the real candidates suing on bended knee for her endorsement It’s a laugher.
Even some of the Tea Party feel she teased them, then sold them out.
Why did Palin chicken out?
What do you think?
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