I’ve said goodbye to a champion of logic, Christopher Hitchens, who has cancer.

“Hitler’s Auschwitz & Bush’s Abu Ghraib epitomize Christianity. Christians are cowardly hypocrites who travel in packs like wild dogs, but are without the loyalty. Islamists are extremely dangerous fools because, unlike the Christians, they believe the dogma. Judaism is the study of diversion, coercion, and manipulation. Jews are the alpha predators because their Gods are money and power. They use these Gods to pit the Christians and Islamists against themselves as well as each other.” – Bob Miller

Notes: Christopher Eric Hitchens (born 13 April 1949) is an English-born author and journalist. His books, essays, and journalistic career have spanned more than four decades, making him a public intellectual and a staple of talk shows and lecture circuits. He has been a columnist and literary critic at The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry, among others, and became a media fellow at the Hoover Institution in September 2008.

Known for his admiration of George Orwell, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson, and for his excoriating critiques of Mother Teresa, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Henry Kissinger, among others, his confrontational style of debate has made him both a lauded and controversial figure.

On 30 June 2010, Hitchens postponed his book tour for Hitch-22 to undergo treatment for metastatic esophageal cancer that has spread to his lymph nodes and lungs. He first made the announcement of his diagnosis in Vanity Fair magazine. In August, Hitchens discussed his diagnosis with Anderson Cooper on CNN. He told Cooper that the long term prognosis is far from positive and that when you use cigarettes and alcohol, which he has used heavily, you “make yourself a candidate” for the disease. Hitchens also noted the irony that, when suffering from cancer, a patient is referred to as “battling cancer”, and opined that the lack of action during which one is receiving treatment is “passive”.[ READ MORE ]

Goodbye Christopher Hitchens by Bob Miller

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For months Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has been harping on Sen. Barack Obama’s alleged youth and inexperience.

If McCain places such a high premium on experience why did he pass over Mitt Romney, and select a virtual unknown as his vice-presidential running mate.

John McCain’s most significant action as a presidential candidate displays his hypocrisy and poor judgement. How can McCain, with a straight face, allege that Obama is too inexperience to serve as president?

Who is Sarah Palin? That’s what even pundits and political junkies are exclaiming today. Who is this woman who will be one heartbeat away from the presidency if John McCain wins the general election?

Usually the electorate doesn’t pay much attention to the VP selection, but John McCain is 72-years-old with a body ravaged by torture and cancer. There’s an excellent chance that McCain will not survive his term in office.

It’s incumbent upon voters, the press and pundits to go over this woman’s record (such as it is) with a fine-tooth comb.

John Fournier of the Associated Press points out that Palin is a risky choice:

“John McCain’s risky choice of Gov. Sarah Palin gives him a running mate who doubles down on his maverick image, may appeal to ‘hockey moms’ and other women, and counters Barack Obama’s aura of new-generation change. But he may have undercut his best attack on the Democrat.

If Obama is an empty suit, as McCain has suggested, is Palin suited for the Oval Office herself?

She is younger and less experienced than the first-term Illinois senator, and brings an ethical shadow to the ticket.” — AP

McCain’s pick is blatant pandering to disappointed Hillary voters. The choice will backfire because Hillary’s legion of angry voters won’t be thrilled with the selection of an anti-abortion vice-presidential candidate with extreme conservative social values.

McCain has perpetuated the Republican culture of corruption by choosing a Veep who is ethically-challenged.

“She (Palin) has an ethical issue as well. Alaska lawmakers are investigating whether Palin abused her power in firing a public safety commissioner. Lawmakers say they want to know whether Palin was mad at the commissioner for not firing an Alaska state trooper who went through a messy divorce and ongoing child custody battles with Palin’s sister.” — AP

As a responsible editorialist, in the coming days and weeks, I will do my best to fill in the blanks of this empty suit. But I already know enough to declare that Palin is a horrible choice, and Hillary voters will not be hoodwinked into voting for a woman who is an inconsequential as an Alaskan snowflake.

Hillary Clinton to make major speech on Tuesday

It seems this is the end of the road for Ma. Clinton.

Reports internet-wide indicate that as of Monday, Clinton campaign staffers are being urged by the campaign’s finance department to turn in their outstanding expense receipts by the end of the week, an indication that the campaign wants to get its affairs in order and to initiate an end to the 15 month duel with Obama.

The campaign is in debt to the tune of about $11 million.

Some other reports indicate the opposite: ABC News’ Kate Snow and Eloise Harper report that Clinton spokesperson Mo Elleithee came to the back of the press plane as Clinton flew from Rapid City to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and said: “I think its pretty clear that she is not conceding.” “I think its pretty clear that she is staying in this race. She is going, in the coming days, to be aggressively courting uncommitted superdelegates aggressively courting unpledged delegates, making the case to them that she is a candidate best ready to take on John McCain.”

When asked directly when Clinton will step aside, Elietthee told the reporters, “as she has said dozens and dozens of times she is in this race until we have a nominee…Until there is a nominee she is going to try to win support.” ….[MORE]

Meanwhile Obama told reporters that he spoke by phone with Clinton on Sunday, and that he congratulated her on winning Puerto Rico and apologized for the controversial remarks made by Father Michael Pfleger while speaking at his former church.

“I emphasized to her what an extraordinary race that she’s run and said that there aren’t too many people who understand exactly how hard she’s been working. I’m one of ‘em because she and I have been on this same journey together, and told her that once the dust settled I was looking forward to meeting with her at a time and place of her choosing. We’ve still got two more contests to go and I’m sure that there will be further conversations after Tuesday,” said Obama. ….[MORE]

On Tuesday night Obama will deliver a speech in in St. Paul, Minnesota — the site of the Republican National Convention that will nominate Arizona Sen. McCain in September.

“Minnesota is an important battleground state,” said Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki. “The McCain campaign has made it clear they will compete there aggressively. We will too.”

Meanwhile “Slick Willy” is still in Attack-Mode: Bill Clinton exploded in response to this article “The Comeback Id,” by Todd Purdum of Vanity Fair.

He called the author “sleazy,” “dishonest,” “slimy” and a “scumbag!”

Finally, Ted Kennedy had what what his doctors termed a “successful” surgery to remove “most” of the cancerous tumor in his brain. The ‘Liberal Lion‘ suffered a seizure at his home in Hyannis Port, Mass. about two weeks ago, and was rushed by helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston where doctors diagnosed brain cancer.

Good Luck Ted!

     P/S: OBAMA – CLINTON TICKET 2008?

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