Conversation | 05/09/2008 4:43 pm

Cokie Roberts: 'Hillary Is Negotiating Her Withdrawal'

A Q&A with ABC News correspondent Cokie Roberts.

LESLEY: Let’s talk about Hillary. I’m wondering, how do you explain her unwillingness, at this point, to throw in the towel? Does she really think she has a shot at winning this? Is she addicted to campaigning, which is my favorite possibility here. She’s kind of unable to give it up. Does she think there’s another shoe to drop with Obama? What do you think?

COKIE: I think that she is taking a somewhat graceful and prolonged exit. You know, when you’ve been running this hard and have won this much, you don’t just go. And the truth is, when you’re this significant a candidate you negotiate a withdrawal. It’s almost like a plea bargain. You start talking about paying off debt and about convention roles. There are all kinds of things that have to be negotiated. But I also do think that she feels strongly that she is the better candidate — and you can make a good case of that given the way the votes played out in these primaries and caucuses — and that by staying in until it’s over, perhaps something will happen.

LESLEY: Assuming, though, that he does win this nomination, do you think she will be anything less than enthusiastically behind him and corralling her supporters into his camp? Or, is there any chance there’ll be a moment like the one at the ‘80 convention.

COKIE: No, I don’t think there’s going to be that kind of moment. I think that Hillary Clinton is too interested in her own political future to be seen as someone who is tearing the party apart at that moment.

LESLEY: Will she go all out, do you think?

COKIE: I think she’d campaign for him. But, you can’t move your supporters. You know that, Lesley. The endorsements hardly matter at all, particularly at the presidential level. Or she can say, "I want everybody to vote for him. I think he’s terrific. I think he should be president." And those working-class Democrats who voted for her can say, "Have yourself a ball, Hillary. I’m voting for John McCain."

LESLEY: And do you think that’s going to happen?

COKIE: I do think that’s going to happen in a lot of cases.

LESLEY: Really?

COKIE: The fact that John McCain is doing as well as he is in a year that should by all odds be an overwhelmingly Democratic year tells you that there’s a lot of unhappiness with these Democratic candidates. You know, many people say this was the year when the Democrats needed to nominate a boring white guy, somebody who you didn’t even hear talk because all he needed to have was "D" after his name.

LESLEY: Show up, right?

COKIE: Show up. Exactly. And instead they’ve had this very exciting, historic nomination process. But it might not work so well for them in the end.

549 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Suzanne, I’ll take schoolmarmish, I don’t think being as ugly as Rush and Ann Coulter contributes anything to the national conversation. When you are all shouting and calling each other names, no one is listening or learning anything. A rational discourse is the goal and civilized conversation is a more effective way to be heard. Personally Rush Limbaugh is the most disgusting man on the airways and Ann Coulter is right behind him. O’Rielly has been spouting his nonsense since he was reading the news here in Portland years ago. Oh, I long for the days when William Buckley had his debates on the early days of PBS. I didn’t even mind when he was full of baloney. At least he was civilized and respectful. So I’ll take schoolmarmish as a compliment.

By beverly linens on 05/11/2008 6:33 pm

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Beverly—My opinion is that someone who didn’t know that Conrad Black is a major NeoCon. A man who like Rupert Murdock helps to provide people like the Coulters/Rushs/Richard Pearls/Robert Novaks their platform to lie us into the monstrous debacle that will take generations to payoff…..isn’t well informed. Black’s trial and prosecution and his import to the NeoCons was news on more than this continent. What is happening in this country isn’t ANY different than when the Nazi’s had Gobbels and Goering in charge of propaganda and disinformation. Hitler couldn’t have happened with an informed citizenry and in a more activist nation. That’s what our Founding Father’s said remember? “A Republic if you can keep it.” An actual free and informative press. Hitler’s propagandist were on the docket at Nuremberg, tried and convicted too for tricking the masses into illegal, immoral invasions. Sound familiar? I think ill-informed people are irresponsible and have blood on their hands too. I suggest you read ‘War is a Racket” online…it’s short and it’s free. The NeoCons aren’t new, and they aren’t conservative. They are as old as time and evil as hell and the media that takes it’s talking points from the WH is a propaganda arm. We are losing this nation, the Constitution, our Bill of Rights, not because of 911, but by calculation and design. And with the lazy public abetting the culture of distraction, too ill-informed to draw connections, thus perpetuating the doctrine of chaos and disaster capitalism. The Freepers are a programmed, robotic army of disinformation that has aided and abetted the sweep of wealth and power from the masses into the coffers of a few, and to foment the needless $3T illegal invasion, with the million innocent dead because no logic or facts got through the NeoCon lunatics control of the airwaves and their 24/7 disinformation. We could have been solving the Climate Crisis for a fraction wasted in Iraq. But we can’t do that with an energy policy written by Exxon/Halliburton. The Pentagon 2002 report “Abrupt Climate Change” reads like a horror film. And now we are with the ice caps melted beyond what was predicted 30 years hence. There is so much at stake, and very little sense of urgency. I have worked my behind off at great cost to me for the past 7 years to try and help save our nation and am shocked by the myopia, and inability to make cause and effect connections here. So you go ahead and feel complimented on your priorities while America slips away. And if you dislike the national discourse now it’s not going to be very civilized if what the Pentagon’s report predicted happens, and it will, because we have a too dumbed-down nation. Let’s add it up. 1) In an earlier post you directed the comment to me that you haven’t voted, as if that had some relevance to me. 2) You didn’t know a major US story, ie Conrad Black, the import of it to the NeoCons. 3) And you haven’t contributed an actual idea on the topic of the thread, except that we should all play nice here, although this topic is burning up the airwaves and blogs and will continue to. If Democrats do not stop being wishy washy enablers. If they can’t look back in history with a wide scope view and see the paradigm in operation now. If they can’t get their priorities straight, and take actual action, then the US as we know it will be over. Are all your citizenry contributions as negligible as the ones on this thread? We get the government we deserve. Citizenship isn’t passive. We need a generation of very informed people, heroes and activists. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the America of the future, civilized it will not be. As far as William F. Buckley goes apparently you’ve forgotten his brawls with Gore Vidal. We lost that level of programming, except for the Bill Moyers and Charlie Rose types, with the Fairness Doctrine that Reagan undid, allowing the publicly owned airwaves to be consolidated into the hands of self-serving pirates like Conrad Black and Rupert Murdock. You are not getting it that this is a cultural war. Hannity is a mouthpiece of the right, he said today that what is needed in a new “Contract ON America.” I hope that’s clear enough. How polite do you think the OTHER King George found Thomas Paine? A Republic if you can keep it. Think about. And if all that comes to mind is visions of white gloves….then just..you know…join a bridge club while Rome burns.

By zut alors on 05/11/2008 9:01 pm

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Suzanne, Oregon’s primary is May 20. What the devil is the thread? Is this a wackadoodle conspiracy thing? Is it something we can actually discuss or must it be shouted about?

By beverly linens on 05/12/2008 1:44 am

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Beverly, I don’t know what ‘wackadoodle conspiracy thing” means…nor did I get what your earlier post was reminding me that you hadn’t voted yet as if that had anything to do with me, or any meaning to me. All I know is I am really sick of people who add nothing but complaints. Did your parents not inform you that things can get testy when religion and politics are involved? I also don’t know what ‘shouting’ means. I basically am not interested in uninformed complainers who are so dainty that straight talk is unnerving to their sensibilities.. So you know, skip it. Not worth my time at all.

By zut alors on 05/12/2008 3:28 am

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bev, if i may, i would like to ask how oregon’s mail-in elections work. how do they decide to whom to issue a ballot? do they mail it to you? how long do you have to mail it back in? are there deadlines? who counts the votes? i work elections in michigan, and this topic interests me, especially since the supreme court decided indiana’s photo identification law is ok with them. in our primary, each voter decided to request either a democratic or a republican ballot. will yours work that way?

By mary lou s on 05/12/2008 12:53 pm

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Mary Lou, Registered republicans and democrats are sent ballots that cover only their candidates about three weeks before the ballots are due back. We have about two weeks plus a few days to get them back to the elections office. I’m assuming the independants receive a ballot with just the measures on them. Since I’ve been registered to vote for fifty years I don’t recall how early we have to register. I do know that when people were changing parties there was a problem with some getting two ballots because no anticipated the change and the ballots had been ordered from the printer. There was some concern that some would mail in the first ballot they received when in actually the second one reflecting their new registration would be the only one that will count. The election committee checks the ballots for legality as they arrive over a period of three weeks. No one counts until 8 pm on May 20th. some are delivered to the elections office minutes before closing time. Some actually still go down there to replace lost or ruined ballots. It’s still a zoo on elections day. It does change campaigning, because things kind of fizzle in that last three weeks.

By beverly linens on 05/12/2008 1:25 pm

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Mary Lou, more on mail in elections. All registered voters receive a ballot. We have twenty days to vote. All ballots must be signed on an inside envelope. The interior envelope is not opened until 8pm on Election day. We have 19 days to return the ballots to the election office by mail or hand delivery. In todays paper President Clinton laughed and said we have figured how to give voters 19 days to vote but no way for candidates to know who has voted. We really do like it. Sorry I didn’t give you more info in the beginning. Bev

By beverly linens on 05/13/2008 8:28 pm

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“Recapturing America’s Moral Vision”-Robert F. Kennedy …There is another great task. It is to confront the poverty of satisfaction-a lack of purpose that afflicts us all. …We seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product…counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman’s rifle and Speck’s knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom not our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except what makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans…” We’ve had over two decades of Bush/Clintons. Of the 173 nations, America is number 48 in infant mortality, 72 in overall health, 44 in freedom of the press, 55 in literacy. We have $3 trillion dollars in debt. That’s equal to spending $100 million 365 days a year for 82 years, or $1 million a day for 8,219 years. Of the 18 countries that produce 80% of the world’s emissions, we are the largest contributor. 5% of the world’s population we produce over 25% of the waste including throwing away 100 billion plastic bags a year equal to 12 million barrels of oil. Bill Clinton is largely responsible for the WTO and NAFTA, on his watch important banking ‘fire-wall’ protections in existence from the early 1930s were disappeared ALLOWING the massive frauds of Citigroup, Enron, World Com, etc, and the extremely dangerous growth of unregulated derivatives which are essentially bets based that Warren Buffet called “sewage” that soared from $9 trillion in 1999 to $700 trillion today when our GNP is $14 trillion and the world’s about $100 trillion. The subprime mortage debacle happened because they based in billion dollar pools of subprime derivatives…and now we have nearly 20 million vacant homes in the US and the largest foreclosure crisis in history. What America excells at is selling arms, we are the biggest arms dealer in the world. Imprisoning citizens, more of our citizens per capital are in prison that any other country on earth, we have more women in prison than anywhere else. We outspend all other countries on the military: http://www.truemajority.com/csba/priorities.php All of our money is being poured into Iraq, a country that we illegally invaded, illegally occupy, a country that doesn’t want us there. And when a mere fraction of what we are spending there could help resolve the Global Warming crisis that should be #1 on everyone’s list….otherwise our children and grandchildren are going to have a miserable quality of life with endless resource wars. Al Gore says, at the end of this short vid that shows how dramatically the polar ice caps have melted, we need to become a Hero Generation. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/243 That is the appeal of Barack Obama—he is a change and a hero to the young. I am done with everything that is more of the

By zut alors on 05/11/2008 4:09 pm

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Suzanne, Now this is informative. I dare anyone to read this contribution 5/11/08 4:09 PMwithout learning something. You make my point. Thank you, Beverly

By beverly linens on 05/11/2008 6:40 pm

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HERE! HERE!

By immoddesta godessa on 05/12/2008 1:14 am

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Elizabeth-All the matrix; votes, delegates, committed super delegates say Obama is the presumptive nominee barring a miracle. How is that something the media and the public won’t discuss?

By zut alors on 05/11/2008 9:21 pm

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She should withdraw. She is terrible. To oblitrate a peaceful country whose sole crime is not giving in to our bullysm. Iran is not making atomic bomb and we know it. Charlie, Would you interview me? I am a REAL expert in Iran issue. === Is hiking the Oil price to neutralize/stifle opposition against Iran War? By: Dr. Murray M. Morgan Another war? It would destroy every domestic issue even more. === Crude, pump prices keep rising: Oil hits record high of $126 a barrel ahead of summer driving season http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12400801/===Keeping Secrets From the CIA: The Senate Intelligence Committee is about to release a report that sheds new light on “inappropriate” back-channel contacts between Pentagon officials and a group of Iranian informants-including a key figure from the Iran-contra affair. http://www.newsweek.com/id/136084?from=rss === “War … should only be declared by the authority of the people, whose toils and treasures are to support its burdens, instead of the government which is to reap its fruits.” : James Madison (1751-1836)= “War: first, one hopes to win; then one expects the enemy to lose; then, one is satisfied that he too is suffering; in the end, one is surprised that everyone has lost.” : Karl Kraus (1874-1936)= “Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph”: Haile Selassie===Syria Won’t End Ties With Iran, Hezbollah: Syrian President Bashar Assad says his country won’t not sever ties with Iran and militant group Hezbollah, despite Israel’s demands to do so. http://www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_212146676.shtml==… Increasing Violence Raising U.S. Concerns Over Iran: Several times this year, the United States has sought to rally its allies in the Arab world against what it calls Iran’s continued meddling in the region. http://www.payvand.com/news/08/may/1085.html===Presstitute and war pimp alert: Why the West moves closer to bombing Iran: Another week, another British fatality - and yet more evidence of Iran’s lethal meddling on the battlefields of the war on terror. http://tinyurl.com/3ltobg===The Iran Consensus Grows More Dangerous: The three candidates share a consensus, backed by the national security community, that Iran is the new strategic threat. It is radical, anti-American, anti-Israel, terrorist-supporting, nuclear-armed and provocative. But just because this is the consensus view does not mean it is right http://tinyurl.com/5vm2qz===U.S. declines to help present nuclear deal to Iran: World powers will in the coming days offer a revised package of incentives to Iran but Washington has refused to send its own envoy to help present the deal http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=160696===Iran to offer new deal to break nuclear deadlock: “My government has worked out a new package, a new initiative, which is going to be put forward in the near future to deal with all aspects of our relationship,” Movahedian said. http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-17/0805094619090502.htm===Shell, Repsol not to pull out of Iran :Royal Dutch/Shell and Spain’s Repsol reportedly intend not to capitulate to US pressure by backing away from an energy project in Iran. http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=54429§ionid=351020103===Russia ‘expels US embassy staff’: The expulsion order was given some days ago but was only revealed by the state department on Thursday. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7390499.stm===A Wild Day in Beirut Street Notes from the Hamra District By Franklin Lamb In order to calm the atmosphere in Lebanon right now and remove the berms of July 2006 rubble blocking the airport road as well as the evacuation of fighters from West Beirut and the Mountains, the Bush administration must order the reversal of Monday’s Lebanese Cabinet decisions. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19894.htm===Hezbollah Sec-General Hasan Nasrallah Address LebanonVideo”The combat today is not between the Sunni and Shia” - “There is a national plan for resistance and an American plan” - “It is up to everyone to choose the camp they want” http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19890.htm===Early WarningA Secret Afghanistan Mission Prepares for War with IranBy William M. Arkin A secret mission conducted last August over Afghanistan caught my eye because it tells us everything we need to know about the ability of the U.S. military to conduct a bolt-out-of-the-blue attack in Iran. It also tells us how useless such a strike might be. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19891.htm===Portrait of an Oil-Addicted Former SuperpowerBy Michael T. KlareHow Rising Oil Prices Are Obliterating America’s Superpower Status. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19893.htm===The Loathsome Smearing of Israel’s CriticsBy Johann HariIn the US and Britain, there is a campaign to smear anybody who tries to describe the plight of the Palestinian people. It is an attempt to intimidate and silence - and to a large degree, it works. There is nobody these self-appointed spokesmen for Israel will not attack as anti-Jewish: liberal Jews, rabbis, even Holocaust survivors. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19892.htm===19 killed, 85 wounded in Sadr City clashes since Thursday - medic: “The Imam Ali hospital in Sadr City received 15 corpses and 70 others wounded, while al-Shahid al-Sadr hospital, also in Sadr City, received four corpses and 15 others wounded. Women and children were among the victims,” http://tinyurl.com/5ogugd===At least 17 killed in another bloody day of US occupation: U.S. occupation forces say kill 14 militants in Baghdad: Air strikes and tanks were used to attack militiamen attempting to launch rockets from the slum or shoot at U.S. troops on patrol. Hospitals in Sadr City said they had received four bodies and 51 wounded. Among the wounded were children. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0891018220080509===Eight killed when rockets hit US base: Two civilian contractors were among those killed when several rockets slammed into a coalition military base in Basra at around 2.20pm (9.20pm AEST), the military said. http://tinyurl.com/5wqfga===Baghdad’s Coming Refugee Crisis: U.S.-back Iraqi forces are gearing up for a new push deeper into Sadr City that could worsen fighting and displace hundreds, a government spokesman in Baghdad said. “There will be a big offensive soon,” said Iraqi government spokesman Tahseen al-Sheikhly http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1738431,00.html===Sadr aide lashes out at Iraq’s senior Shiite cleric: An aide to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr lashed out on Friday at Iraq’s most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, for keeping silent over clashes that have killed hundreds in Baghdad. http://tinyurl.com/6d9edh===Bulgarian soldiers hired for US security in Iraq: The US Company Defense Security Services (DSS) has been snapping up retired Bulgarian soldiers and policemen to work as guards in Iraq the company said http://www.bulgaria-news.eu/articles/86122.php===11 die in Beirut gun battles: Shiite opposition gunmen seized control of several Beirut neighbourhoods from Sunni foes loyal to the U.S.-backed government on Friday, in street battles that left 11 dead, security officials said. http://tinyurl.com/yl8p9k===Hezbollah in control of west Beirut : The army has largely avoided getting involved in the street battles amid fears of being dragged into the conflict. http://tinyurl.com/4mqndg===One More War Crime: Blindsided, Hezbollah Mulls Its Response: . Conspiracy theories, taunts, threats and provocations continue, the stone throwing on some streets, as commentators offer myriad analyses of “the implementation of suspicious schemes” as Beirut’s An Narar noted. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19889.htm===Lebanon unrest: Insiders’ views: Al Jazeera asked four experts on Lebanon whether they thought the new unrest in the country following a government crackdown on Hezbollah, which the Shia group’s called “a declaration of war”, was the beginning of a showdown or whether it can be contained or resolved. Here are their responses: http://tinyurl.com/63mjk2===US cautions Syria if Hezbollah”s challenge to Lebanese gov”t continues: US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad on Thursday wanrned that he would engage his colleagues in the Security Council to take steps against Syria, including sanctions, if Hezbollah’s challenge to the Lebanese Government continues. http://tinyurl.com/5dp7g6===Pakistan opposes US military aide: Pakistan says it has asked the United States not to appoint the former head of the US prison at Guantanamo as military envoy in Islamabad. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7392073.stm===Israeli occupation forces kill three Palestinians, injures 20 others in attack on Gaza Strip: According to the Palestinian Human Rights Center, the woman was killed when the IDF blew up her front door. The woman, Wafa al-Durma, 33, was mother to seven children. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/981936.html===Israel’s Olmert admits taking cash, won’t quit: Prime minister denies campaign backing from American was improper . http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24527673/===Key witness ‘fears Olmert may seek to harm him’ : Court okays early testimony from U.S. businessman said to fear retribution http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/981744.html===Obama ‘committed’ to Israel’s security: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Thursday that the friendship between the US and Israel is “unbreakable” and vowed to ensure Israel’s security should he be elected president. http://tinyurl.com/4b3wd9===5 Myths About Being ‘Pro-Israel’: Grateful as I am for decades of U.S. friendship to Israel, I have to wonder, as the state my father helped found turns 60, just who is defining what it means to be pro-Israel in the United States these days. http://tinyurl.com/4tzpsw===US: Several militants killed in Afghanistan clash: Coalition troops have killed several militants in southern Afghanistan, the U.S.-led coalition said Friday. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080509/ap_on_re_as/afghan_violence===Afghan… meet to restore dialogue: Tribal leaders, members of civil society and politicians in Afghanistan have held a meeting to discuss ways of bringing peace to the country. - It agreed that its representatives would meet members of the Taleban and Hezb-e-Islami groups to lay the ground for peace talks with the government. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7391565.stm===Afghan intellectuals criticise US, NATO operations: About 3,000 Afghan politicians and intellectuals criticised Thursday the international military campaign against Islamic militants in Afghanistan and called for dialogue to ending the fighting. http://tinyurl.com/4czd2n===Taliban agrees for a ceasefire in Pakistan’s restive Swat district: In a breakthrough for the new Pakistani governmentâ??s experimental approach of reconciliation with the extremists, the provincial government of North-Western Frontier Province has reached an agreement with the pro-Taliban militants for a ceasefire in Pakistan’s restive north- western district of Swat. http://tinyurl.com/4pcfrl===Pakistan plays down US cash claim: Pakistan has played down a recent US report that in February the Pentagon refused its request for funds to fight Taleban and al-Qaeda militants. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7390870.stm===Army Says 50 Rebels Killed in Burundi Clashes: A spokesman for Burundi’s army, Colonel Adolphe Manirakiza, said soldiers killed 50 rebels from the National Liberation Forces, known by their French acronym FNL, in Kabezi, outside Bujumbura. He said two government soldiers were also killed, and four wounded. http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-05-08-voa47.cfm===Demonizing Chavez:: Deep ties between Venezuela, Colombian rebels: paper: Computer files found on a dead guerrilla leader’s laptops captured in a March raid show deep ties between the Venezuelan government led by President Hugo Chavez and the communist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday http://tinyurl.com/3pxmmw===Bolivia to vote on president’s rule : Evo Morales, Bolivia’s president, has agreed to hold a vote of confidence on his rule amid a power struggle between his government and wealthy provinces. http://tinyurl.com/67w36z===John Pilger: Destroying the best of Britain : In his latest column for the New Statesman, John Pilger describes how the New Labour government is destroying one of the the venerable features of “communal decency” in Britain - the local post office. Economies need to be made, though not in the pursuit of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. http://www.johnpilger.com/page.asp?partid=487=== U.S. House Passes Anti-Foreclosure Bill Facing Bush Veto Threat: The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to let a federal agency insure up to $300 billion in mortgages to help homeowners avert foreclosure, a day after the White House threatened to veto the measure. http://tinyurl.com/533vak

By M Morgan on 05/09/2008 5:42 pm