Second post today, still no original content from me, but this cartoon by Rex Babin is too good to not pass along:

Politics as usual or take the exit?
(...found the cartoon on Streetsblog)

Obama vs. Clinton

With the race for a Democrat presidential nominee narrowing, as well as the Indiana and North Carolina primaries today, I thought it would be a good idea to recap the differences between Obama and Clinton, especially when they appear to be very similar on paper. But I'm not going to do that because Ran Prieur did just that on his blog yesterday.

I think he really gets it right, so I'm just going to re-post some of what he wrote. I would just link to his post, but he doesn't leave everything online permanently and there is no direct link. Scroll down to his May 5 entry for the full text and great links to related articles. I've re-posted the meat of it here:

<snip - from Ran's blog>

Clinton is a relentless fighter, but she's not good at working with people, she's not good at adapting, her campaign has shown she's not a good manager, and she's not even good at winning her fights. Her Senate career has been balancing symbolic gestures on social issues with full-on neoconservatism on foreign policy. We are entering a depression, and when the strikes and riots start, Clinton's first instinct will not be to work with strikers and rioters, but fight them (us). She is owned by lobbyists and will take her actions from the interests of lobbyists and take her words from pollsters and focus groups. And worst of all, while she is doing all this, everyone will think of her as a pushy liberal, and we'll get a huge right wing backlash in 2012, just like we got in 2000 after the first Clinton presidency.

Barack Obama is a good listener, an excellent manager, and has done more in two years in the Senate than Clinton has done in six. He has spoken again and again about bottom-up change and transparency, and he is largely owned by the 1.5 million individual donors who have financed his campaign. When the depression hits, Obama is far more likely than Clinton to work with the uppity rabble. He is setting himself up as a tool that we can use to change the system (and we have to, for his presidency to be effective). On foreign policy, he is less likely to attack Iran, and more likely to make peace with the rest of the world in an age where continuing to fight would be catastrophic.

</snip>

It's dead.

Well, they finally killed it.

It seems the NY State Assembly prefers that we continue to have everyone foot the bill of our congestion "tax" in the form of heavy traffic, pollution, and mass transit deficiency instead of having the minority of road users pay the price directly in real money. The privilege of the few has been put above the needs of the many. Congestion pricing was a plan that would have had a negative impact on very few New Yorkers and would have had positive results for nearly everyone (improved train service, new Metro-North stations, bus rapid transit, better cycling infrastructure, cleaner air, and faster commutes for those who actually need to drive, etc.).

The state assembly basically decided we don't need to discourage unnecessary driving into the city. Hell, if you subtract the sunk cost of a monthly garage and have just one passenger to split the price of gas, (or maybe you park for free with one of those [often illegal] placards), it might even be cheaper to drive to work than to take the subway. I can only conclude that they want us to drive into the central business district.

Next month is Bike Month NYC and May 16 is "Bike to Work Day." That's stupid. I bike to work everyday, why not give me and all the other cyclists (and transit riders) a break? Let's make May 16 "Take a Car to Work Day." I propose that the vast majority of non-driving New Yorkers either drive, carpool, or take a cab to work that day. Driving is the best option. The more single occupant personal automobiles the better (extra credit for luxury SUVs), but taking a cab is good too. I'm sure there's more than enough cabs to take millions of people into the city at rush hour. This is what NYC needs to transport our citizens, revitalize our health, and jumpstart our economy, right? Every man for himself.

Thank You!

City Council approves congestion pricing!
Now it's up to the State Assembly to do the right thing.

Props to the Bronx for every representative voting yes except for one abstention. To all drivers of single occupant vehicles who choose to drive instead of making use of the excellent mass transit infrastructure available: I'm tired of subsidizing your selfish use of public space with my tax dollars. Once this passes in Albany, I'd like to thank you for either paying the fee to improve mass transit or leaving your car at home. My commute will be a lot better without you jackasses on the road.

The Brand Called Obama

I've been slacking on the blog, and although I still don't have anything original to add I want to share this interesting article: The Brand Called Obama.
Here's a segment:

Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist, has long considered himself a political independent. An Obama encounter at a campaign event inspired him to take up arms for the Democratic candidate. "I see him as a leader rather than a boss." A leader, he notes, gets people to do things on their own, through inspiration, respect, and trust. "A boss can order you to do things, sure, but you do them because it's part of the contract."

You can read the whole article here.

Read this:
How Hillary Clinton Blew It

That basically says it all.

Why I support Obama over Clinton

The results from Super Tuesday aren't final yet, but things are looking good for Barack. Obviously it's a very close race with Clinton, but Obama did win more states and is claiming to have won more delegates overall.

Here are two big reasons why I support Obama over Hillary:

- The war in Iraq. Hillary is not going to end it. She voted for it, but now she says she opposes it. However, she's received more financial backing from the defense industry than any other candidate...including Republicans.

- Obama not only represents change, but has the ability to bring it about. He excites people. Motivated people will translate into action. In addition to the Democrat base, he will do well with the independent vote and even some moderate Republicans. I cannot possibly imagine any Republicans voting for Clinton in the general election...they all hate her way too much. On top of that, I think Clinton supporters will vote for Obama if he is the nominee, but not necessarily the other way around.