"Senator Clinton has denounced the denouncement of the denouncing of her retraction"

[kevinmc]

"Oh..... and Death to the Infidels"

Paid for by


In other news....

Penn calls trade meeting 'error in judgment'

(CNN)— Clinton campaign strategist Mark Penn said Friday it was an "error in judgment" for him to meet with the Colombian ambassador to advocate for a free-trade agreement Hillary Clinton has said she opposes.

"The meeting was an error in judgment that will not be repeated and I am sorry for it," Penn said in an issued statement. "The senator's well known opposition to this trade deal is clear and was not discussed."

The meeting, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, occurred Monday. Penn appears to have been acting in his role as chief executive of the international communications and lobbying firm, Burson-Marsteller Worldwide. The Colombian Embassy hired the firm to help achieve congressional approval of a bill allowing free trade with the country — a proposal Clinton has sharply criticized.

Earlier Friday, Clinton spokesperson Mo Elleithee said the New York senator "remains steadfast against the Colombian Trade Bill," and maintained Penn's meeting was "not in any way done on behalf of the campaign.".......

[kevinmc]

1. Quote of the Day

"The negative toll on Obama and Clinton will end five minutes after the nominee is chosen. That will be before the first of July."

-- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), in an interview to be broadcast tonight on Bloomberg TV.


http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/04/04/quote_of_the_day.html

[mrJJ]

2. Mo Elleithee is busy

HILLARY IS ONE BIG 'MIS'TAKE
DENIES DENIAL AFTER 'MISHEARING'
By CHARLES HURT and DAPHNE RETTER Post Correspondents

Now Hillary denies that she denied she said Obama can't win.

WASHINGTON - First she "misspoke," now she misheard.

Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday seemed to deny that she told New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that Barack Obama could not win the presidency.
But her campaign later said she misheard a reporter's question.

Asked at a press conference whether she made the comment to Richardson, Clinton said, "That's a no."

She added, "We have been going back and forth in this campaign of who said what to whom and let me say this, that I don't talk about private
conversations but I have consistently made the case that I can win."

Campaign spokeswoman Mo Elleithee later said Clinton thought she was being asked whether she'd disclose what she actually said to Richardson,
who has endorsed Obama.

"Senator Clinton was simply reiterating what she had just said - she doesn't talk about private conversations," Elleithee said.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04042008/news/nationalnews/...

[kevinmc]

4. -DENIES DENIAL AFTER 'MISHEARING'- which later was Denied and Rebuked .. n/t 8-)

[bhikkhu]

7. Anyone else appalled at the denied and rebuked denied denial, allegedly also misheard?

[kevinmc]

15. I am so appalled I am forced to make these posts .. 8-) ..

I stayed away from this place till I couldn't take anymore. Now look at me I am posting Baghdad Bob picts for Clinton . 8-)

[AX10]

3. How is..

Barack Hussein Obama doing these days? Is he still smearing the Clintons as being "racists"?

[kevinmc]

6. Never heard him do that ....so I guess he isn't .. n/t

[LaurenG]

13. how do you sleep at night

powerful ugly made up stuff ...

[anigbrowl]

5. Funny how the President of Columbia only condemned Obama over a trade deal both candidates oppose

I guess he didn't want to appear sexist by criticizing Senator Clinton.

[PA Democrat]

10. LOL!

Or maybe President Uribe's lobbyist, Mark Penn, Hillary's chief campaign strategist has assured him that the fix is in if Hillary is elected.

I guess he didn't think anyone would notice his sleazy conflict of interest.

[progressive_realist]

14. Clinton doesn't really oppose it

When it comes time to vote, she'll just claim her earlier statements of opposition were because she misspoke or misheard.

She never had a problem with free trade agreements until this primary season and I suspect she'll stop having a problem with them starting the day after the convention.

[tabatha]

8. great title lol.

[kevinmc]

9. Mark Penn's client - Blackwater Iraq contract to be renewed

WASHINGTON (CNN)-- The State Department will renew its contract with Blackwater to provide security in Iraq, Greg Starr, acting assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, said Friday.

No provisions have been added to the contract, Starr said, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ordered several changes to procedure after a September incident in which Blackwater guards shot and killed 17 people, including women and children.......


**************

Penn-Blackwater link puts HRC on defense

Hillary Clinton found herself defending her chief strategist Friday after The Associated Press reported that the public relations company Mark Penn runs had helped prepare the chief of the controversial military contractor Blackwater USA for his congressional testimony.

“Mark Penn did no work on the Blackwater account,” Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said Friday afternoon.

Burson-Marsteller, of which Penn is Worldwide President and CEO, “has cut its ties to Blackwater and that was the right thing to do. Mark is and remains a valuable member of our team,” Wolfson said.

Penn’s unusual dual role as corporate executive and presidential strategist has been a running source of distraction for Clinton’s typically single-minded campaign. Though her supporters believe that voters will ultimately be unlikely to make their choice based on the actions of a consultant who is little known outside political circles, Penn has drawn a steady stream of criticism from other campaigns and from key Democratic groups.

Labor leaders objected to his firm’s work against union organizing, and Burson-Marsteller’s work for clients that include the tobacco industry and a leading, troubled subprime mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial, have also drawn fire.

[kevinmc]

11. My fellow Clintonites, it's time for Obama

FOR SUPPORTERS of Senator Hillary Clinton, like me, it's time to get behind her rival, Senator Barack Obama.
more stories like this

The exposure of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.'s outrageous and divisive remarks has injected the raw emotions associated with race relations into the presidential campaign. This new dynamic raises the stakes in an already high-stakes race. Our responsibility as progressive-minded voters is to show Americans a positive alternative to the toxic politics of race. Rallying around Obama now increases our chances of doing just that. Obama has run a positive and inspiring campaign, and has attracted a majority of pledged delegates. It is hard to envision a scenario in which Democratic superdelegates override the will of millions of primary voters and caucus participants. Obama will be the nominee.

Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Wright presents Republicans with a polarizing wedge issue to exploit with general election voters. This approach not only risks an Obama loss in November - denying us a fresh, capable leader - but it would set the country back in its racial reconciliation process. Americain 2008 should be better than that.

As we have done at many key junctures in our nation's history, Democrats and other progressive-minded voters must lead the way. The current firestorm is an opportunity to move beyond the anger and resentment that have characterized our nation's dialogue on race. By throwing our enthusiastic support behind Obama now, voters of all political stripes can echo the candidate's refrain, "Not this time.".............

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/04/05/my_fellow_clintonites_its_time_for_obama/#

[johnnydrama]

12. more parsing from Penn

He says it was an error to meet with the Columbian ambassador.

But it's an error for his firm to even have accepted the job from Columbia in the first place.

So what if he meets with somebody or doesn't.

His firm is still working towards policies that his boss Hillary Clinton is against.

[kevinmc]

16. I don't want that guy anywhere near the White House n/t

[kevinmc]

17. k&r

[crankychatter]

19. publically "against"

maybe it's like NAFTA...

[quantass]

18. lol