This is why we should not nominate Hillary. We are always going to be talking about the Clinton's past or their sex lives or something else that is not pertinent to the discussion of what needs to be done for the future of our country.

Can you imagine the debate if Hillary gets the nomination? She won't just be running on her record as Senator but also Bill's record as president. The GOP is drooling over the prospect of running against Billary!!!!!!!!!! We will have to continually discuss Monicagate.

I think the American people wan to move forward and leave the war of the Clintons behind.

I'm so please that Obama passes your sanity test. I agree that much of Hillary simply does not add up. If I were Hillary I would have shot Slick back in 1998 and for certain on the day she loses her chance at the White House. There isn't a court in the land that would bring her to trial.

I'm willing to give Obama a chance for 4 years but will back up my own limited government to step up in 2012 just in case........

I would rather have a government based on Socialism than on a group who thinks nothing of building a police state. It's a shame it comes down to this. Damn the religious right! But maybe it will even out and force equality and diversity where no Republican would dare to tread. I'm good with this. Thank you Hal.

I got home to hear the last 5 minutes of Teddy's speech and what Senator Obama said after that.

I can imagine (dream) that Hillary is sitting with Bill watching this. Actually at this moment she's being shown live on CNN giving a perfectly acceptable campaign speech about energy; but this is a dream, remember.

Hillary says to Bill,

"Eff' it, I can't run against that - I'm withdrawing..."

Ideally she'd recognize she has no business running against THIS, meaning someone who has what she lacks, but with her ego and hubby conflicts fat chance of that

I have to see this campaign as something more than just another run for president.

Clinton(s) are so connected to the ideologies and methodologies of what I consider old school politics that has developed mainly from the early 60's to present day. Old school politics is no longer acceptable to me. The Neo-Con form of politics and government has driven me to the point of being appalled, disgusted, hatred, and just plain old feed up.

Obama, on the other hand is going to be a roll of the dice because he could well find himself having to suffer through a lot of adversities much like Carter had to. I am not praising Carter, but I will say if you look at all of the current events boiling during his presidency...I don't think anybody could have survived...including the Clintons.

Now, I'm a recovering Republican. I voted Repub for over 40 years. I won't say that I was a die-hard because I don't ever recall voting a straight ticket. HOWEVER, Bush and his wild bunch...along with a totally parasitic Congress, they broke me from sucking eggs as the local farmers says it. I'll never affiliate myself with another party, meaning I think I'll stick with the label of "independent".

I've gone through a lot of emotional and intellectual ups and downs this past year about candidate choices. Since the guy I finally felt somewhat comfortable with...who I will disclose 'Wildman Dennis Kucinich' is gone from the race. I have to go with Obama.

"I was undecided on who to vote for between Clinton and Obama on Super Tuesday" ...

Hal Brown...say what?!

Anyone and I mean anyone that votes for Hillary Clinton or even considers doing so, has "not" done serious research concerning these two scamsters; ie., the Clintons...!

The Monica debacle represents only the tip of the iceberg concerning these two characters, both of them on the make and the take; ie., a lifelong enterprise...!

Hal Brown, I can tell you what Bill and Hillary are all about; ie., "evil does exist"...!

Clintongate laundry list of scandals...

http://members.tripod.com/~GOPcapitalist/clinton-s...
***
What ethics means to Clintons, both lawyers at the time, Bill now being disbarred...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq8aopATYyw&feature...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMfUajhL24I&feature...
***
What our national safety means to Bill Clinton...

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/...
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/...

***
I hope you can find time in your busy schedule shrinking out politicians et. al. to both view and research the supplied links then let it possibly sink-in that there's far more serious issues with the Clinton's then simply Bill's fling with Monica and Hillary's "tornado-like ambition" ... :|

Carl Nemo **==

Carl Nemo,

The only things about "Clintongate" (not counting such inconsequential or bogus things like "helicoptergate", "VinceFostergate, and a few others) I didn't know prior to last week from your links was the "shocking" YouTube videos. That, frankly, I didn't find shocking, nor did I see the smoking guns in the allegations some people saw. Pictures with a computer printed note and probably also "signed" by a computer must be common tokens of appreciation in Washington. The Clintons are in bed with big money supporters, and have taken so much money from them it seems inevitable that in their lust for finanical support they didn't think donors needed to be properly vetted.

I'd prefer we kept more or less on the new topic of Hillary Clinton's as the psycho-avenger against Bill (now that would have been a better title) here, rather than begin a debate about what is and isn't a Clinton scandal or what the more-far-right than Fox Newsmax considers a sell-out of our security to the Chinese.

I was still willing to give Hillary the benefit of the doubt and make my Super Tuesday decision at the last minute based on an assessment of each candidate. No more.

Start a blog topic about this and fire away at the Clintons.

I, too, was going back and forth between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, even John Edwards, but lurking closer and closer to Obama each time I listened to him speak...

I just finished watching the video on MSNBC.com of first Caroline Kennedy's and Ted Kennedy's endorsement speeches, and then Barack Obama's speech. Old enough to remember JFK and RFK and the optimism of the country back then, I see that again with Barack Obama. I am now a believer.

Unfortunately, Pennsylvania's primary isn't until April. So I can only hope that the delegate count isn't decided on Super Tuesday.

Oh brother, Obama gives a couple pretty speeches and a bunch of suckers think he is qualified to be president.

And the Dems like the Kennedys and John Kerry who are taking sides are splitting the party in two and handing the general election to Mitt Romney.

I think the real reason people like Ted Kennedy and Kerry are supporting Obama is because they think they can control Obama and know full well they can't control Hillary.

Javajohn - Yours is exactly the kind of negative cynicism that I am voting against. Obama excites me and inspires me. I do believe he is qualified. I also believe there is a movement building and you will really see it explode on Feb. 5. Rather than split the party, I believe he will unite it much more than Hillary and Bill. Even Republicans are voting for him.

Having said that, if Hillary ends up winning the nomination, I will vote for her. The most important thing adter the last 7 years is electing a Democratic president and congress. We should all remember that.

I want Edwards to be President...as much as others want Paul and wanted Kucinich. None of these men will ever be president and for the same reason. The media decided months ago that Obama would win and barring some unforseen disaster, he will be. I do not have a worry that Obama can in anyway be as catastrophic as Bush has been, but I am sickened that the media ...nothing more than billion $$$ corporations...have blatently used the air waves to unfairly skew this election and once again been allowed to make up American minds. As I've said before.."There Oughta Be a Law"...one thats enforcable and enforced!!!

JavaJohn,

Like Janet, I anticipate an amazing showing by Obama on Super Tuesday which may or may not surprise the pundits depending on what the polls show leading up to Feb. 5th.

I do not think those of use who were inspired by Obama's two most recent major speeches, which I trust you listened to or read, are suckers. There is substance in those words.

He is qualified to be president because he is every bit as smart, savvy, and capable of holding the highest office in the land as Hillary (and Bill) Clinton, but isn't (excuse the dual meaning) wedded to the old way of doing things. It isn't merely that he is advocating the right kind of change, but he is planning to make it happen in new ways.

He will not divide the party because those who supported Edwards will readily come to support him. I have heard that those who support Clinton now skew to the older white female more educated group. If this is correct and if they are anything like my friends in that category who have switched, they will see that Obama speaks for them more than Hillary does.

Not only that, the subject of my column will come into play as this group looks at her relationship with her husband and realizes just how uneasy it makes them feel.

If Obama wins big on Feb. 5th Clinton will have a rough time garnering enough delegates to win the nomination short of a brokered convention. I would expect her to continue through a few more primaries after that, but quits when it is clear from polling that her chances of winning are slim.

Then I expect her to play the gracious loser and focus on beating whoever the Republican candidate is. She knows that as a senator under a Democratic administration she can make major contributions in turning the country around. She has to work with fellow Democrats in Congress and would be foolish to anger them.

Meanwhile, if Bill Clinton hasn't totally alienated Obama, look for him to become one of the most politically acitve former presidents in history.

Prediction: My odds on a Clinton separation should she loose the election are one in three. It will be a test of their love for each other if they no longer have to stay together for appearances sake. If they separate I expect a formal divorce before she runs for the Senate again. New Yorkers could care less whether or not their candidates are divorced.

Janet..I too will definitly vote for a Democrat. However...my sister who was, and still is very much for Hillary says she will not vote for Obama, and may choose Romney come Nov. IF those are who she has to choose between. "Romney knows about business and finances" I found this comment unbelievable because, just last Fri., she said "It's hard for me to believe anyone would even think about voting for a Republican this time". Then, 2 hours ago when she called and told me this, I ask her
"what in the hell has happened to change your mind?" Her answer: "The television idiots have done nothing but malign Hillary, ignored Edwards and everyone else! So, I've written all of them telling them what I think and I'm not going to watch any of them." I told her to get a grip and calm down that its been this way for months, well, she said...Right now,I am so disgusted that I'm really seriously thinking of voting for Romney...they don't report the news, they make it up, and I am sick of it" All this from a polite soft spoken lady who thought what Bill Clinton did was a dispicable disgrace yet would relish the chance of seeing him help Hillary run the nation. Oh by the way, she went from being "well-off" financially to "wealthy" during the Clinton years.

JavaJohn Is Right. And Hal; you are so out of line. I love reading your and Doug's stuff, but you both seem to have major problems with women, sex and forgivness. It's getting "public bathroom toe-tapping creepy" too. You two seem to have a very personal issue with any woman that doesn't stomp on her husband like a piss-ant for cheating.

Obama has proven he has had his hand out from the beginning of his short career. He has only been a two-bit player so far, but has willingly accepted every bribe and scheme, making it known he is ready for the big-time graft. Look, I loved listening to JFK, but the real facts are he won his election using mafia ties, his family made their empire from illegal booze and do we forget Teddy and the MURDERED woman? How about the cousin accused of raping the girl on the beach? Bobby was big time into McCarthey-type congressional hearings until the mafia pissed him off enough to talk JFK into quitting his whoring and drugs and let him go after the people JFK owed favors to.
JFK was a great young President, even with all his faults. He would have been even better if he had lived. Robert would have proven to be the greatest President of our time, and many lifetimes to come. But they had the background to know and work the corruption not for their profit, but to better America. I remember JFK, and Obama is NO JFK. He will be a puppet for Teddy and the rest; and crawl across the floor for the spare-change they throw.

Hal, I have a question for you. You have such a hard-on against Hillary for forgiving and respecting Bill after his past sex problems. Do you think Jackie Kennedy was a huge turd as well? I'm not a shrink, but this "woman's revenge, I'll make him suffer syndrome" and "Any woman who doesn't cut off her man's dick for cheating is no better than a whimpy doormat" is a little too Jimmy Swaggart for me.

Bill Clinton was a pretty damn good Prez, in my limited opinion. And you need to give us more than your personal problems with cheating men and the women that love them. Or maybe you should take your problems to Jerry Springer, not CHB.

Do we need to use insults for our commentators? Why is it necessary to get to the level that this great debate has brought to CHB. Sadly, it is very familiar to me as I read this crap everyday on other forums.

Anyone who believes Bill Clinton was a good President has not read much about his dealings with Communist China. The problem is our understanding of the Bush Administration and the lies and manipulations that will return the the Democrats to power. Apparently neither party knows right from wrong and many of us can see a glimmer of honesty with Obama. Even a spark is better than what we have at this time.

The GOP has self destructed under the weight of one of the most evil men we ever elected. We saw them use God and Jesus Christ to sell their agenda which may be the lowest form of government ever seen in America. Our history of equality is shaky enough but if we don't clean out the corruption, we will lose our Constitution which is the law of the land.

It is the American way to go from one extreme to the other. I welcome the diversity that Obama brings and hope it will erase the horrors of the religious right in their trying to make women, gays and terminal patients into 3rd rate citizens. The gay bashing and anti-Semitism is alive on the religious forums and apparently there are some here who would like to express their hatred for half the American people.

I am not forcing equality but merely pointing out the lack of it. Why this division has morphed into the GOP can only be explained by the rise of the religious right in the party. They bring with it the dream of moral laws generated by our government. They do not know right from wrong and will never stop until it is forced on all of us. You and your holy President have destroyed our American culture and hopefully we will run you out of our government until you grow up.

Like Hal, I too am a clinical social worker. I know how specualtive some in the field can be. Hal throws out that Hillary's motive for running is revenge offering no evidence. Weak specualtion is something that happens all too often in the field. Hal totally overlooks Hillary's life time interest in policy and politics before she even met Bill.

There is no denying that the Clintons have a "different" marriage. We all have unique marriages, some more unique than others. The Clintons marriage is their own business.
I was very unhappy about Bill's misbehavior, thinking how stupid. I share some of the concerns written here and I do wish I had another choice.

Voting for a Republican is unthinkable because of policy differences and the way they have governed over the past 7 years. Voting for Obama is out because of a lack of experience. The country has alot of problems. As much as we deplore those who have been around the beltway, these times require seasoned knowledge.

An inexperienced and young JFK brought us the disasterous Bay of Pigs, that I think a more seasoned Nixon would not have attempted. JFK also led us down the slippery slope of Vietnam. I cannot vote for anyone with so much to learn as Obama. Although a quick learner I am sure, there is too much at stake to wait while he get his education.

I don't decide who to vote for until election day because so many things can happen in the next week pro or con for each candidate. I did not watch the president's speech last night for the first time since I was a kid (now 49) and that tells you how sad things are today. He uses the same old words over & over again about how he's making the world safer and it makes me want to throw up.

Ok, there are women who believe in the Christian priniciple of forgiveness. Since we all make mistakes, perhaps it is why some marriages endure over the decades. Some people do not believe in forgiveness. To them, certain things cannot be forgiven.

But when one spouse appears to commits the same transgression over and over again, it has to make some people, even their closest friends, wonder why the other spouse chooses to stay together.

Hal, you actually do make a valid point. I prefer to think that Hillary stays with Bill for 2 reasons: 1)she loves him despite his transgressions 2)she's not willing to give her adversaries the pleasure of being right. Hillary is a SCORPIO and they are relentless and proud creatures. She has proven this to be true.

Perhaps she has stayed with Bill to further her own career. Perhaps her being president is the ultimate revenge. But for a scorpio, I think being the first woman president and perhaps the only husband/wife team to sit in the oval office, is history making that may never be replaced.

That is sufficent to itself for Hillary to stay with Bill and run.

However, I repeat, I will not vote for Billary! I know a lot of people who feel the same. I do not believe that She can win over a RED state in the final election! She cannot bring the 2 parties together. Her winning the presidency will not bring the country together. It will only keep us divided for 4 more years. And I cannot endure another 4 more years of bad jokes and politicos barking at each other from across the aisles.

Those who say they cannot vote for Billary because they can't stand the bad jokes and polititical division are being very unrealistic and letting Limbaugh et al decide their vote. Do you think partisanship is going to end should Obama become president? Get real, partisanship is based on policy differences not personalities. The right is already making up bad jokes about Obama. According to rightwing propaganda, he is a Muslim who doesn't salute the
flag and swears on the Koran. You are living in a dreamworld, if you think that Obama can unite the country.
The righties will be doing everything they can to keep the country from uniting behind his left leaning policies.
Get used to the "barking" it is part of our representative democracy.

"Those who say they cannot vote for Billary because they can't stand the bad jokes and polititical division are being very unrealistic and letting Limbaugh et al decide their vote. "

Please don't be naive and insulting. Rush Limbaugh does not have anything to do with how I feel about Billary!

"According to rightwing propaganda, he is a Muslim who doesn't salute the flag and swears on the Koran."

This is a hoax. Here is the link that tells the truth.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp

Perhaps you're quick acceptance of the garbage that floats aroung the internet shows where you are at.

"You are living in a dreamworld, if you think that Obama can unite the country."

ONE THING IS FOR CERTAIN -- THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL THAT BILLARY WILL UNITE THIS COUNTRY!

"The righties will be doing everything they can to keep the country from uniting behind his left leaning policies."

THE GOP IS SALIVATING AT THE CHANCE TO RUN AGAINST BILLARY! BILLARY IS THEIR CHOICE TO RUN AGAINST! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING?

The Billary Road to Republican Victory
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/27rich.h...

Besides this is a thread about Why Hillary is running. So quite frankly your post is inappropriate. And as far as I can tell, as long as this is a free country, I am allowed to voice my opionion and write what I believe.

I suggest you do a bit more research before attacking someone who apparently much more informed than you are and who is exercising their right as a concerned citizen.

On the last few comments:

I'm glad to have another therapist commenting here. I hope Mary Cali continues to offer her own clinical perspective.

In the first 18 years of my career working at a mental health center I had a very diverse caseload including some couples; but in the last 18 years in private practice half of my time was spent doing marriage counseling. In many instances the goal was to help couples heal after one of them had an affair. I believe I assisted many couples in this regard.

This being said in my own defense, it is reasonable for mental health experts to speculate about a politician's psychological motivations. I think most people understand we do this from a distance and our conclusions are always tentative and open to change as we get new information.

Politician's marriages ceased to be their own businesses when they became both tools to garner votes and when they became fodder for the infotainment that often passes for news. The marriages shouldn't concern us unless they seem to influence the politician's behavior and decision making, particularly in a negative way.

I wrote that

I think Hillary has an unconscious, or barely conscious, reason for
wanting so desperately to be president. It is almost too obvious to
state when put in the context of what I've written so far. It can be
summed up in a word: revenge.

I don't mean to imply that this is her only reason. She has always been a political animal like her husband and who knows, had he been content to be a house husband she might have run for governor of Arkansas and ended up as president.

As for Jackie Kennedy, she never went into politics and her husband's infidelities never became banner headlines, let alone led to an impeachment. We can never know what her reaction to this would have been.

Sandy: I think that Bush has taken America so far to the right in the ways you describe plus others (how right can creating an imperial presidency be?) that a change to a Democratic Party government will only seem like a polar oposite on the far left. In fact, it will move the country back to the middle.

Just a note to waglendye, instead of watching the president I watched the local selectmans meeting on cable, and I have to say from what I read about the speech it was more interesting. Those who decided to watch the speech so they could write about it, like Doug Thomson and The New York Times (here) editors confirm this about Bush's speech.