Bill Clinton was probably the best President in our lifetimes (look at the competition), unless you were old enough to be alive when FDR was President.  JFK was good after the Bay of Pigs, which was organized by Eisenhower/Nixon, and he showed great promise by 1963, but he only had 2.7 years in office.

Clinton brought us 8 years of peace and prosperity, and he got the budget back into balance - a major accomplishment.  His average popularity was around 60%.

It's simple - Clinton is the best President since FDR, and in the top third of all Presidents in our history, maybe in the top 25%.  We had a lot of lousy or run of the mill Presidents since FDR.  He'd rank below Washington, Lincoln, FDR, and a handful of others, but was better than most of the Presidents of the 19th and 20th centuries.

(cross-posted at Clintonistas for Obama)

[WARNING: Monstrously long diary with about a million blockquotes... but I threw some pictures in for your entertainment]

"These reforms express my deep belief in our public schools and their mission to build the mind and character of every child, from every background, in every part of America."

- President George W. Bush on NCLB, announced three days after taking office.
January 2001

In the midst of Bush's war and our current economic insecurity, many of his less publicized failures are largely ignored by the MSM. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), which reauthorized the ESEA, has been vigorously debated among liberals and conservatives. Its stated purposes include increased accountability for States, schools, and school districts; greater choice for parents and students; more flexibility for States and local educational agencies (LEAs) in the use of Federal education dollars; and a stronger emphasis on reading.

Water, kind of essential for life, has become a central theme in Colorado and the surrounding region following McCain's remarks and Romney's follow-up.

The Wall Street Journal is just reporting on their site, that negotiators for the Iraqi government and the US have come to a draft agreement on troop withdrawals.

Today is Ashwin Madia Blog Day and so as a supporter from pretty much the day the primary field settled. I thought I'd post a little bit about why I've been part of Madiamania for so long. It shouldn't be two hard beacuse two blogs today, Ashin's in The Hill and Howie Klein's on DownWithTyranny, have spelled out my main reason pretty well. I've supported Ashwin Madia since the start beacuse he has courage.

Today in a blog for The Hill  Ashwin summed it up in one line

It's time for a little more bravery in Washington.

(cross posted at kickin it with cg)

Since we are now full on in the Summer Olympic games in Bejing, now is the perfect time to discuss a hot issue here in Canada.  Namely Women's Ski Jumping in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

In November 2006, the International Olympic Committee rejected the inclusion of women's ski jumping for the Winter Games in Vancouver in 2010. IOC President Jacques Rogge stated that only 80 women were competing in the sport and including it in the 2010 Games would dilute the value of medals won in other events.

Nearly all Olympic sports have both a men's and women's event, but the International Olympic Committee always has exempted ski jumping to let it be a male-only competition.  The IOC says its decision not to include women's ski jumping at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games is based on technical merit and isn't discriminatory.

However a coalition of international women ski jumpers filed a lawsuit against the Vancouver Organizing Committee in May challenging this decision. They argue that the women have been discriminated against because the Games allow only men's ski jumping. "The failure to include women's ski jumping events in the Games violates every woman's right to equal benefit under the law," according to the lawsuit filed in British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver.

In order to be considered for inclusion in the Olympic Games, a sport must have held at least two world championships. The first women's ski jumping world championships will be held this year in Liberec, Czech Republic.  

But some say the IOC is using the technical merit justification as an excuse.  Supporters of women's ski jumpers argue there are 135 women ski jumpers in 16 countries. This compares to other sports already in the Games like snowboard cross, which has 34 women from 10 countries, skier cross, which has 30 women from 11 nations, and bobsled, which has 26 women from 13 nations.  They also argue that women's marathon was added to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles after a single world championship in 1983.  

Of note, is that the Canadian Government is fully supportive of the lawsuit and "would try to convince the IOC to include women's ski jumping at the Vancouver Games."  David Emerson, Canada's federal minister responsible for the 2010 Games, said it's "extremely disappointing" women are not being allowed to ski jump at the Olympics.

"Ski jumping is an important sport and we're investing a lot in jumping and training facilities in Canada and to not have women able to participate on the same basis as men, to me, I just don't think it's right."

Deedee Corradini, who was the mayor of Salt Lake City when that city won the right to host the 2002 Winter Games, noted $580 million of Canadian taxpayers money has helped the Vancouver Olympic Games Organizing Committee (VANOC) build Olympic facilities.

"My understanding is it's against federal and provincial law in Canada to spend government money on facilities that discriminate," Corradini told a news conference Saturday at the Canadian ski jumping championships.

"To have a men's only sign on these ski jumps seems to be discriminatory and contrary to Canada's own human rights act."

Additionally a group of Canadian women ski jumpers have filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Right Commission, arguing the Olympic movement is discriminating against them.

While Corradini and members of the Canadian ski team are vocal in their dissent, the United States Ski and Snowboard Association is taking a more diplomatic tact.

The association is the governing body for ski sports in the U.S., including jumping. Tom Kelly, vice-president of communication, refused to say if he thought women were being discriminated against.

"We have great respect for the process the IOC has for bringing the sport into the Olympics.  We were disappointed when the IOC made it's decision (on 2010.)  We are very optimistic for 2014. The first world championships will be held next year and that is a critical event in the growth of the sport. When we get to the world championships, and the world sees what these women can do, that is a great message to send to the IOC."

As 16 year-old ski jumper Zora Lynch says "It's not about the competition between the sports. It's about gender equality and that kind of stuff."

While Jerome asked yesterday why the Obama campaign hasn't had a coordinated blog campaign, let me offer one that all left-of-center bloggers can agree on ... a simple message that would be easy to stick to without any help from 233 N. Michigan.

You simply call McCain a warmonger without calling him a warmonger.

Everyday McCain gives this narrative more validity.  Today he (probably carelessly) agreed that a draft might be necessary to finish the job on Bin Laden.

He's basically created a second American state named Georgia.

He's laughed about bombing Iran ... he's said we could be in Iraq for a millennia, for all he cared.

You see, McCain can't stop himself.  This has been his m.o. since he arrived in Washington.  He makes himself available for any TV camera that asks during any military crisis, voices support for the President and then, sadly, reluctantly (in the case of GOP Presidents) or aggressively (in the case of Dem Presidents) says we're not doing enough.

Because no one ever adds it all up, McCain just sounds tough and informed.  But if you go back ... for example, to the spring of 1999 ... you'll find moments where McCain is on record supporting three large scale U.S. military operations simultaneously.  Then he wanted a land war in Kosovo (because President Clinton's air war clearly wasn't going to be enough), he wanted regime change in Iraq and he wanted an armed attack on Iran to avenge Khobar Towers (yes, three years after the fact, with no conclusive proof that they were behind it.)

McCain shoots off his mouth and orders our troops around, rhetorically, at will.  Except if he's President, it's not rhetorical anymore.  And the idea that we'd need a draft to cover all of McCain's wars isn't theoretical anymore either.

If Democrats can't exploit this issue, we deserve to lose.  McCain is hoping to be the new James K. Polk, in a far more dangerous world.  Tell the truth about McCain and war and he'll think it's hell.

Lately I have been in the doldrums. I am trying to recover from a serious injury and know it is `no politics worth mentioning August`, but I gotta say my almost total lack of interest in the race right now is serious. I haven't felt this low about politics in quite some time.

I am bummed because my favorite blog has become almost unreadable and because my candidate isn't mopping the floor with McCain. Even though Obama was not my first choice, I desperately want him to win this November. More on the former after the fold.

As to the latter, I am stunned that Obama is not doing better in the race at this time. I really have no idea how Clinton would be doing at this point, and could easily imagine that she would be struggling if she were the candidate. I actually think that Obama will come back from this to win the GE no matter who he picks as his VP. My question is by how much does he win? I saw a poll on MSNBC today that Chris Matthews called a golden little nugget. The poll said that half of the people who are currently undecided are/were for Hillary Clinton. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032553/ As Chuck Todd said on Hardball, the rest of the people who either candidate can get are people who love the Clinton. He went on to say that fully 10% of the electorate would vote for Clinton, but will not vote for Obama. For a truly decisive win this November, Obama needs Clinton.