Don't Cry For Me

About 60 years ago, the pampas of Argentina were ruled by a hyper-ambitious, political ladder-climbing First Lady, who ran the country, even though her charismatic husband ostensibly was president.

His name?  Juan Peron.  Hers?  Well, she was immortalized in pop culture by Andrew Lloyd Webber as Evita.

Today, Argentina has elected a new president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.  Obviously a woman.  Who is a lawyer.  Who met her husband while in college.  Who is also an Argentine Senator.  Who is succeeding her husband as president.

Here come the congratulatory statements from New York's Junior Senator!  "I just want to congratulate President-elect Fernandez on her history-making victory," she will say, or some such thing, in order to hit everyone over the head with the inevitable and cliched comparisons.

But hold your horses.  Here's what Fernandez said just three months ago about our own female candidate:

"Hillary was able to position herself nationally because her husband was president.  She didn't have a political life beforehand, and that isn't my case."

So before Mrs. Clinton trips over herself to use President-elect Fernandez as an example of what can happen if voters are just "enlightened" enough, she should keep in mind that Fernandez herself rejects the comparison.  "I'm a real feminist," she suggested.  "I was in elected politics on my own.  I'm not a derivative of my husband.  I'm no Hillary Clinton."

And Hillary Clinton is no Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.  But she may be an Eva Peron.

Comments

[FredK2929]

But Hillary Clinton has had a political life for the last 6 years. Pointing out that she didn't have one before does not erase her time in the Senate.

[Gary]

Hopefully for Argentina she is not a Hillary Clinton.

[gringoman]

Mrs. Slick Willy an Eva Peron? Monica, like many a nice educated gringa, you don't get it. Many men knew Eva, and she knew them. The Clinton woman is no Eva Peron, even if she could remotely tango. Mrs. SW may be a new American phenomenon---an ambitious puta of politics, on life-support in a man's head, but unlike Eva, she is not one with heart and soul. As women would know, that changes everything. People don't mind being used if they think they are also being loved.

Eva Peron and her very pale robotic U.S. imitation? Give us a break. Pundits can decide which was the real puta.

[charlie]

Hey Gringo,

When you say 'many men KNEW Eva", are you referring to the Biblical definition? Just curious.

In Central and South America, hardly anyone pays the 7th. commandment any attention.

[Ree]

I'll wait for the Movie, remember these Movies, Wag the Dog and Primary Colors. Those movies were made by people who like the Clintons, imagine movies made by their critics. I did not have sexual relations with that woman...it depends on what the definition of "is" is....Lawyers running the country, what a GREAT IDEA...NOT. There is a trial lawyer and his lawyer wife Edwards, waiting in the wings if the Clintons falter. Flip of the coin, tails we loose, heads we loose.

[FredK2929]

Let's not paint with too broad a brush. Andrew Jackson was a lawyer. James K. Polk was a lawyer. Lincoln was a lawyer (a TRIAL lawyer). TR was a lawyer. FDR was a lawyer.

So considering that among our greatest presidents were several lawyers, let's not just simply say that having lawyers run the country is a bad idea.

BTW -- I saw both "Wag the Dog" and "Primary Colors", and both were critical of President Clinton and politicians and politics in general.

[J. Pierpont Finch]

WHY DO THE BRIT PAPERS SEEM TO HAVE THE MOST INFORMATIVE & USEFUL ARTICLES ABOUT THE U.S. ?

October 30, 2007

The top US conservatives and liberals

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/exclusions/uselection/nosplit/listintro.xml

By Toby Harnden
Last Updated: 1:31pm GMT 30/10/2007

[Ree]

Fredk2929,

What do you call a 100 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? answer, a good start.

[FredK2929]

That's an old joke, Ree.

Are you starting to join Charlie and Finch in making useless contributions to this blog?

[J. Pierpont Finch]

Bill Clinton was the best president the People's Republic of China ever had. His wife may be even better

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=278291149224647

The Chinese Re-Connection
By INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, October 26, 2007 4:20 PM PT

National Security: Bill Clinton was the best president the People's Republic of China ever had. His wife may be even better. Beijing, hungry for more technology transfers, is betting on it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IBD Series: To China With Love: The Clinton Legacy

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It's no coincidence that Sen. Hillary Clinton's autobiography, "Living History," is the most popular foreign political memoir in Chinese history. The state-owned publisher of the Chinese translation of her book has printed hundreds of thousands of copies (after censoring passing references to dissident Harry Wu) and stocked them in bookstore windows from Beijing to Shanghai.

It's also no coincidence that Chinese bagmen are lining up immigrants in Chinatowns from New York to San Francisco to donate cash to Hillary's campaign. Many have never voted. Some aren't citizens and couldn't vote if they wanted to. Most are dishwashers, waiters and garment workers who don't even have the means to give the thousands they're giving. And an alarming number say they've been pressured by shady Chinese "businessmen" to help fill Hillary's campaign war chest.

Command fundraisers are breaking out all over the Chinese community. It's plain that Sen. Clinton is China's candidate. It's time to ask why that is. What is the attraction? What does Beijing want? What has she promised?

Is Hillary, as some suspect, a Manchurian candidate loyal to foreign and unseen donors rather than American voters? Can she be trusted with U.S. security?

With polls showing Clinton bounding ahead of the Democratic field, while nosing out even top GOP hopefuls for the White House, voters must take these questions seriously. We plan to drill down on them in a series of editorials.

It's instructive to revisit the special relationship the Chinese had with the last Clinton administration, especially in view of how the former president plans to act as an "international emissary" for his wife.

Bill Clinton called it a "strategic partnership." He argued that cozying up to — or as he called it, "engaging" — the communist Chinese was in America's best interest. But while Clinton was engaging them, an engagement that included inviting them into our defense labs and dismantling export controls, Beijing:

• Managed to steal secrets to every nuclear warhead deployed in the U.S. arsenal.

• Deployed for the first time an entire force of CSS-4 ICBMs that target the continental U.S., from L.A. to New York and everything in between.

• Declared the U.S. enemy No. 1 in its military writings.

• Bought Russian destroyers armed with missiles designed to kill U.S. carriers.

• Built up its missile batteries across the Taiwan Strait.

• Infiltrated the CIA and FBI with spies.

The Chinese espionage that occurred on Clinton's watch was unprecedented, and analysts still don't know how deep Chinese moles penetrated our security complex.

The FBI warned President Clinton that the People's Republic of China was running a massive intelligence operation against the U.S. government, which included a plan to influence the 1996 election.

Clinton looked the other way. In fact, there's evidence he facilitated it by throttling the prosecution of Chinese spy cases and covering up probes into Chinese funny money that poured into his campaign.

As soon as Clinton took office, he implemented a policy of "denuclearization." That included ending nuclear testing, kicking open the defense labs to Chinese and other foreign scientists, and declassifying hundreds of documents related to our nuclear program.

Clinton also deregulated export of sensitive dual-use technology such as supercomputers and rocket guidance systems. And Beijing gleefully took advantage of the dovish changes, sharpening the reliability of the missiles it has aimed at the U.S. and Taiwan.

Clinton's open-door "engagement policy" amounted to rank appeasement of a communist state with hegemonic military ambitions. Will Hillary carry on the tradition? Will she, too, hold a high-tech fire sale for the Chinese? One thing is for sure, Beijing and its bagmen are betting on it — big time.

[FredK2929]

I tried to read your last post, Finch, but as soon as I saw the part where you suggest H. Clinton may be a "Manchurian candidate", I realized you live in a rightwing fantasy world, and had to stop.

[DavidK101]

A pack of lies Finch. What right wing garbage truck did you fall out of? Is Fred the only one with a head on his shoulders around here?
What did the Chinese ever do to you finch besides poison your halloween teeth and put lead in your poopy pants?
Wait a minute. Isn't this the Huffington post?
Oops My mistake. I'm outta here.
Who is this Crowley witch anyways?
And that finch is he a bird or something?
You got my bird finch.

[FredK2929]

OK. That was interesting.

[J. Pierpont Finch]

The Lady And The Nuclear Dragon
By INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY
Posted Monday, October 29, 2007 4:20 PM PT

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=278550826699767

National Security: Beijing is aggressively targeting the United States with nukes and deploying spies to steal our security secrets. What would Commander in Chief Hillary Clinton do?

IBD Series: To China With Love: The Clinton Legacy

If a new policy paper she's published in Foreign Affairs is any clue, she would simply follow the lead of her husband, who enabled the communist Chinese at every turn.

Like Bill, Hillary would pursue a hippie "denuclearization" policy that ends testing of nuclear weapons in our stockpile, while slashing the budget for developing defense systems to protect the U.S. from incoming enemy ICBMs.

She slams the Bush administration for, among other things, "focusing obsessively on expensive and unproven missile defense technology."

But there's good reason for that obsession. The Pentagon recently warned that China's long-range missile force has grown substantially in the past few years, and now includes a mobile, land-based ICBM that could reach anywhere in America.

"China has at least 10 varieties of ballistic missiles deployed or in development and is qualitatively improving some of its older systems with improved range, mobility and accuracy," the sobering report said, adding that they're "capable of targeting the continental United States."

It's no accident that China suddenly gained the capacity to launch pre-emptive nuclear strikes against us. It happened on President Clinton's watch, when he systematically dismantled security at Los Alamos and other defense labs as part of his naive "engagement policy" with Beijing.

Chinese spies infested the labs and stole technological know-how on five warheads and design codes to two others, including the Pentagon's crown jewel, the W-88 lightweight mini-warhead fired from nuclear subs.

In doing so, the Cox Commission found, the Chinese saved a tremendous amount of time and money and were able to improve their nuclear arsenal so it could more reliably threaten U.S. cities in a showdown over Taiwan.

Islamic terror is getting all the headlines these days, as it should. But absent 9/11, China's military buildup and foul play around the world would rank as the No. 1 national security threat.

Recent Chinese spy scandals at the CIA and FBI, as well as continued leaks at the labs, show we're losing the espionage war against Beijing. China also recently hacked into the Pentagon's computer, a brazen cyberattack that set off alarms throughout the intelligence community.

And there's real concern that Beijing — the worst proliferator of nuclear missile technology in the world — might share it with other countries, including terrorist states like Iran and Sudan.

Despite all these concerns, Hillary Clinton wants to re-establish her husband's "strategic partnership" with China, making it clear to us that she would be dangerously incapable of taming the nuclear dragon rising from the Pacific.

"There is much that the United States and China can and must accomplish together," she said in her Foreign Affairs piece, failing to mention the growing nuclear threat the communists pose.

"Although the United States must stand ready to challenge China when its conduct is at odds with U.S. vital interests," she added, "we should work for a cooperative future."

Recent history, however, shows that the Chinese are not going to be cooperative partners of the U.S. — unless we want a partner that's going to loot our technology and use it against us.

[J. Pierpont Finch]

JUST WHAT THE USA NEEDS = THE HILLARY HEALTHCARE MODEL
-----------------------------------------------------

70,000 Britons go to other countries for medical treatment rather than be subjected to the NHS. How's that socialized health care working out?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=490233&in_page_id=1770

Record numbers of Britons are travelling abroad for medical treatment to escape the NHS - with 70,000 patients expected to fly out this year.

And by the end of the decade 200,000 "health tourists" will fly as far as Malaysa and South Africa for major surgery to avoid long waiting lists and the rising threat of superbugs, according to a new report.

The first survey of Britons opting for treatment overseas shows that fears of hospital infections and frustration of often waiting months for operations are fuelling the increasing trend.

Patients needing major heart surgery, hip operations and cataracts are using the internet to book operations to be carried out thousands of miles away.

India is the most popular destination for surgery, followed by Hungary, Turkey, Germany, Malaysia, Poland and Spain. But dozens more countries are attracting health tourists.

Research by the Treatment Abroad website shows that Britons have travelled to 112 foreign hospitals, based in 48 countries, to find safe, affordable treatment.

Almost all of those who had received treatment abroad said they would do the same again, with patients pointing out that some hospitals in India had screening policies for the superbug MRSA that have yet to be introduced in this country.

Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, said the figures were a "terrible indictment" of government policies that were undermining the efforts of NHS staff to provide quality services.

The findings come amid further revelations about the Government's mishandling of NHS policies, and ahead of official statistics that will embarrass ministers.

On Wednesday, figures are expected to show rising numbers of hospital infections. Cases of the superbug Clostridium difficile, which have risen five-fold in the past decade, are expected to increase beyond the 55,000 cases reported last year.

On the same day, statistics will show that vast sums have been spent on pay, with GPs' earnings rising by more than 50 per cent in three years to an average of more than £110,000.

New research shows that growing NHS bureaucracy has left nurses with little time to see patients – most spending long periods dealing with paperwork.

Katherine Murphy, of the Patients' Association, said the health tourism figures reflected shrinking public faith in the Government's handling of the NHS.

"The confidence that the public has in NHS hospitals has been shattered by the growth of hospital infections and this Government's failure to make a real commitment to tackling it," she told The Sunday Telegraph.

"People are simply frightened of going to NHS hospitals, so I am not surprised the numbers going abroad are increasing so rapidly.

"My fear is that most people can't afford to have private treatment – whether in this country or abroad."

Low prices in India, where flights, hotels and a heart bypass cost less than half the price charged by British private hospitals, explain its top ranking in the survey by Treatment Abroad, a British website providing information on hospitals overseas.

Hungary's popularity rests on a boom in dentistry, thanks to a shortage of NHS dentists in Britain.

The British Medical Association advised people to be careful when considering treatment abroad, highlighting the dangers of flying soon after surgery, which can cause complications.

A spokesman said: "Travelling can place a great deal of stress on the body. Patients travelling abroad for surgery should consider their fitness to fly and get an understanding of an appropriate convalescence period before attempting to return home."

A Department of Health official said the number of patients seeking treatment abroad was a tiny fraction of the 13 million treated on the NHS each year.

Waiting times had fallen. Almost half of patients were treated within 18 weeks of seeing a GP. Most people who had hospital care did not contract infections

[charlie]

Hi Guys,

Looks like another 'foaming at the mouth' lib has joined the attack.
Better keep your pepper spray handy.

[charlie]

Hey Ree,

You should know better than to try to crack a joke with a lib. Absolutely no sense of humor.
Vinegar runs in their viens.

[FredK2929]

Either you missed a joke or it is your own joke. "DavidK101" is clearly not a liberal, but a mockery of a liberal (apparently me, seeing how similar the name is).

And I have no problem with good jokes. Just not really old jokes that were lame the first time they were told.

And you might want to read your past venomous posts before you accuse others of having "vinegar in their viens [sic]".

[Ree]

Monica is a conservative, why would it be a suprize to find conservatives, traditionalist and people like me- independents, reading and commenting on her blog? This hardly seems out of the ordinary now does it?

As far as not liking what you read Fredk2929, if you don't like the comments, stop reading the comments.

This is Monica's blog if she doesn't like a comment she has the POWER to moderate.

[charlie]

Freddo, my adorable comrade,

You've got to stop being so angry all the time.
You're ruining your health--(if its not already ruined)

Have you never heard that it takes less muscles to smile than to frown. (-:

[FredK2929]

I'm not angry, and my health is fine. I enjoy reading conservatives' posts in which they set forth unsupported positions, often grounded in prejudice and assumptions. And because you are supporting the worst president of all time, you become DEfensive and make OFfensive statements. You all confirm my belief in my positions. I thank you for that. You make me happy.

Ree -- I simply thought your joke was lame, and it reminded me of the kind of thing Charlie/Finch would post. Up until then, you seemed above their kind of his idiocy. I still think that you are.

As for Monica moderating this blog, as far as I can tell she has never done that, and she probably is not capable of doing so. Despite her degrees, she does not strike me as the brightest bulb.

[charlie]

Freddo,

If you're not angry, then what's all this ranting and raving about.
Are you trying out for Hollywood?

[Ree]

I would like to see Monica, with a larger online presence, it is away to reach more people, and there are many examples of many political pundits utilizing the format with good results. I think if Monica, doesn't want to spend all her hours in the day, on her blog, she could hire someone, to moderate. The feedback alone would be worth the cost, and bring her blog more traffic. I think I would spruce up the webpage too, new page layout and graphics. I think the Monica Blog has potential...but it is under utilized. Monica has a radio program and she does appear on many cablenews channels. Monica, is a regular on The Factor, the new improved blog, could be advertized on The Factor, it gets high ratings and her Radio Program, increase her visibilty, which is always a postive. It would mean more then one article for her blog a day, my opinion is the investment would pay for itself.

[FredK2929]

Charlie/Finch -- You are one to talk about ranting and raving. Have you taken a look at your history of posts?

I'm not sure if Monica could handle participating in a blog where people will disagree with and challenge her. She's best off appearing on her conservative radio program and going on conservative shows like The O'Reilly Factor. Otherwise, she's likely to be exposed as a mental lightweight.

[DavidK101]

I had eye surgery in Montreal.
Got 20/20 vision back at half the cost they were charging here.
More and more Americans are going abroad for their surgery because it is more affordable and there is an epidemic of staph infections in U.S hospitals due to the over use of antibiotics and unhygienic personal habits.
Republicans decry universal health coverage, calling it socialism and they praise the current system as the best in the world.
Maybe it is the best in the world for them, the HMOs and the Insurance Companies, but it is only available, (in its best form), to the elite few who can afford it. Those who need it the most, don't have access to it. What kind of a government would allow that?
It is a "let them eat crumbs" mentality that is pervasive among the Republican and Democratic elite, and the stupid working class Republicans and blue collar Democrats go along with it until they get sick themselves. Then they see just how bad it can get.
It just ain't Christian friend. As a matter of fact, it is immoral, wrong, wrong, wrong. A nation that doesn't do everything it can do to safeguard the health of it's citizens is a nation that has lost it's moral compass. Poor healthcare deprives citizens of the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" and in that sense it is unconstitutional because what is the point of giving people rights when because of poor health, they cannot enjoy those rights?

And to boot, a nation that sanctions or allows the practice of torture, is lower than the lowest, and has no right to preach to the rest of the world about "human rights."