Hillary Clinton might be downplaying Bernie Sanders and the surge he has been enjoying since he announced his candidacy but her campaign team is admitting they are worried about his growing popularity in Iowa.
Here is more:
The ample crowds and unexpectedly strong showing garnered by Senator Bernie Sanders are setting off worry among advisers and allies of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who believe the Vermont senator could overtake her in Iowa polls by the fall and even defeat her in the nation’s first nominating contest there.
The enthusiasm that Mr. Sanders has generated — including a rally attended by 2,500 people in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Friday — has called into question Mrs. Clinton’s early strategy of focusing on a listening tour of small groups and wooing big donors in private settings. In May, Mrs. Clinton led with 60 percent support to Mr. Sanders’ 15 percent in a Quinnipiac poll. Last week the same poll showed Mrs. Clinton at 52 percent to Mr. Sanders’ 33 percent.
“We are worried about him, sure. He will be a serious force for the campaign, and I don’t think that will diminish,” Jennifer Palmieri, the Clinton campaign’s communications director, said Monday in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
Some of Mrs. Clinton’s advisers acknowledged that they were surprised by Mr. Sanders’ momentum and said there were enough liberal voters in Iowa, including many who supported Barack Obama or John Edwards in 2008, to create problems for her there.
“I think we underestimated that Sanders would quickly attract so many Democrats in Iowa who weren’t likely to support Hillary,” said one Clinton adviser, who like several others spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly share views about the race. “It’s too early to change strategy because no one knows if Sanders will be able to hold on to these voters in the months ahead. We’re working hard to win them over, but yeah, it’s a real competition there.”
And I think they are right to be worried because this is beginning to sound quite a bit like the 2008 Presidential race: Hillary Clinton was widely thought to be the presumptive Democratic nominee before Barack Obama came out of nowhere to upset her in Iowa. I am sure her campaign is beginning to worry about 2016 becoming a repeat of the 2008 campaign.
Will Bernie Sanders continue to grow in popularity as the campaigns begin to get into full swing or is this just a temporary bump in the polls because voters are looking for a fresh face? I believe Bernie Sanders has a real opportunity to shake this race up because, among other things, Hillary Clinton just is not all that likable. Even her supporters do not seem to be all that fired up about her candidacy.
Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Johnny Cash: ‘Ragged Old Flag’
As we bring to close this Independence Day weekend where we celebrate the birth of this country I thought there was no better way to bring the festivities to an end for another year by sharing the man, Johnny Cash, and a little number he calls “Ragged Old Flag.”
Enjoy:
Open thread for Sunday, July 5th: ‘Country Boy’
Here is the open thread for Sunday, July 5th. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
Last week was a slow one with only 8 stories including the Independence Day post but did you miss any of them? If so there is an easy way to make sure it does not happen again. I understand that all of you are busy and cannot always find the time to check the blog for updates so why not subscribe to America’s Watchtower and receive email updates whenever I write a new post? That is the easiest way to follow the blog to ensure you never miss another post.
In addition to subscribing you can also follow America’s Watchtower on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links on the right. But you will get more than that for I often post links to articles I probably will not be writing about so it is a great way to keep up with what is happening.
The Twitter widget in the sidebar is fully interactive. This widget updates my tweets in real time and allows you to respond to or retweet my tweets right from the blog. It also allows you to tweet me right from America’s Watchtower. How cool is that! If you do not have a Twitter account what better reason do you need to sign up for one!
A few years ago the lead singer of the band Stain’d, Aaron Lewis, released a solo CD and it included the song entitled “Country Boy.” Here is an acoustic version of the song; I think you guys are going to like this and it fits in with the holiday weekend. Enjoy:
Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:
Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton
Bill Whittle’s latest Afterburner video is entitled “Pin the Tale on the Donkey.” (Note the play on the word tale.) This is probably the best video he has ever produced and that is saying something indeed! In this video he takes on the Democrats’ sordid, racist past and puts an end to the leftist mantra that somewhere along the line racist Democrats and the Republicans who were elected to end slavery switched sides over the years.
Coming in at over 13 minutes long this is a must see. It is hard to determine what my favorite part of this video is however considering the recent Supreme Court decision on gay marriage I think it might be when he reminds the people that is was the Democrats who first got involved in the marriage issue by creating marriage licenses to ensure that black people could not marry white people.
Here it is, enjoy:
Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
The Republican Presidential field is about to get a bit more crowded because according to this story Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was set to file his paperwork yesterday and will make an official announcement on July 13th.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will file official paperwork to kick off his 2016 GOP presidential bid on Thursday and will announce his campaign later this month, an aide told The Hill.
He’ll make his official announcement in Waukesha on July 13, the aide said.
Of course we all knew this was coming but we do not know exactly where he stands on some key issues: he has had an evolving position on immigration reform and amnesty and he has failed to take a clear stance on the NSA spying program. It is hard for me to make a determination when there are still questions about these issues. Especially the NSA spying program; if he supports it then he is also nothing but a selective Constitutionalist and he cannot have my support.
For all of the candidates on the Republican side of the field there are only two so far who are speaking out against the NSA spying program, the others support it, and if I am not mistaken one of those candidates once voted to reauthorize the PATRIOT Act, leaving only one…
Scott Walker has shown us that he knows how to fight for what he believes in, he has shown us that he is not afraid to fight the Democrats and stand up for his agenda, but at this point I need to know more. Simply fighting for an agenda is not enough if that agenda includes the infringement of our Fourth Amendment rights.
Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Is polygamy the next battle to be fought on marriage equality? The answer to that question is yes if a Montana man has his way but what is interesting is that he is actually using Chief Justice John Roberts dissent as his motivation.
Nathan Collier has two wives which he married in separate religious ceremonies, however he did not obtain a marriage license for his second wife so that he could avoid bigamy charges. He feels as if his second wife is not legitimate in the eyes of the law and he is hoping to use John Roberts dissent as justification to acquire the marriage license he has up until this point been unable to legally obtain.
Here is more:
Barack Obama fails to comply with court order, has not rescinded illegally issued amnesties
Back in February Federal Judge Andrew Hanen issued an injunction halting part of Barack Obama’s Executive immigration but in May the Department of Homeland Security admitted to breaking that injunction. Of course nobody did a damn thing about it so it should come as no surprise to learn in this story that Barack Obama is once again not in compliance with the court.
Here is more:
The Obama administration still hasn’t fully rescinded the 2,000 three-year amnesties it wrongly issued four months ago in violation of a court order, government lawyers recently admitted in court, spurring a stern response from the judge who said the matter must be cleaned up by the end of July — or else.
It’s the latest black eye for President Obama’s amnesty policy and the immigration agency charged with carrying it out. The agency bungled the rollout, issuing three-year amnesties even while assuring the judge it had stopped all action hours after a Feb. 16 injunction.
Of course the Obama regime is claiming it is making every effort to comply with the court injunction:
National Review video: ‘Who is Hillary Clinton?’
Here is a new video released by National Review entitled “Who is Hillary Clinton.” There really is not anything in this video that we do not already know but it sums it all up in about two minutes and is worth the watch. Plus, I really do not have the motivation to write tonight.
Enjoy:
Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
America's Watchtower 