5 Days to Iowa Caucus: Iowa Independent- Democratic Power Ranking

The Iowa Independent released the last in it's series of power rankings for the Democratic caucus. It reflects their predictions if the caucuses were held today. They predict an Obama victory, with Hillary and Edwards tied for 2nd. I agree that Obama probably has the most popular support among Democrats in the state, but the caucus system rewards those who show up and spend the night talking politics. I'm not convinced that the Obama supporters will show up on caucus night, in fact, I don't think they will. The Edwards and Hillary support seems to more solid among likely caucus goers. Anyway, this was the call from the Iowa Independent. I think Obama has the least chance of winning among the major 3(Edwards, Clinton, Obama). We'll see on Thursday!

Edwards Radicalizes Anti-Corporate Pitch

A good article from Huffington Post

6 Days to Iowa Caucus: 3-way dead heat

The LA Times has just released new polls of the Iowa and New Hampshire races. IN Iowa, it's still looking like a three-way tie between Hillary Clinton (29%), Barack Obama (26%), and John Edwards (25%). This is more good news for Edwards in my opinion because of the 15% viabilty threshold in the primary system that will drive unviable Kucinich, Biden, and Dodd supporters to Edwards.

In New Hampshire, it is a two-way tie between Obama (32%), and Clinton (30%), with Edwards trailing at 18%.

A new national poll by Knowledge Networks shows Hillary Clinton with a commanding lead over Barack Obama, 47% to 25%. If Obama or Edwards can't stop her in Iowa, it will be nearly impossible to stop her later on. If Hillary wins Iowa....it's over and she rolls to the nomination.

It's going to be a very interesting Thursday next week!

Lakota Sioux Secede From US, Declare Independence

by Bill Harlan

Political activist Russell Means, a founder of the American Indian Movement, says he and other members of Lakota tribes have renounced treaties and are withdrawing from the United States.

“We are now a free country and independent of the United States of America,” Means said in a telephone interview. “This is all completely legal.”

Means said a Lakota delegation on Monday delivered a statement of “unilateral withdrawal” from the United States to the U.S. State Department in Washington.

The State Department did not respond. “That’ll take some time,” Means said.

Meanwhile, the delegation has delivered copies of the letter to the embassies of Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile and South Africa. “We’re asking for recognition,” Means said, adding that Ireland and East Timor are “very interested” in the declaration.

Other countries will get copies of the same declaration, which Means said also would be delivered to the United Nations and to state and county governments covered by treaties, including treaties signed in 1851 and 1868. “We’re willing to negotiate with any American political entity,” Means said.

The United States could face international pressure if it doesn’t agree to negotiate, Means said. “The United State of America is an outlaw nation, we now know. We’ve understood that as a people for 155 years.”

Means also said his group would file liens on property in parts of South Dakota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming that were illegally homesteaded.

The Web site for the declaration, “Lakota Freedom,” briefly crashed Thursday as wire services picked up the story and the server was overwhelmed, Means said.

Delegation member Phyllis Young said in an online statement: “We are not trying to embarrass the United States. We are here to continue the struggle for our children and grandchildren.” Young was an organizer of Women of All Red Nations.

Other members of the delegation include Rapid City-area activist Duane Martin Sr. and Gary Rowland, a leader of the Chief Big Foot Riders.

Means said anyone could live in the Lakota Nation, tax free, as long as they renounced their U.S. citizenship. The nation would issue drivers licenses and passports, but each community would be independent. “It will be the epitome of individual liberty, with community control,” Means said.

To make his case, Means cited several articles of the U.S. Constitution, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and a recent nonbinding U.N. resolution on the rights of indigenous people.

He thinks there will be international pressure. “If the U.S. violates the law, the whole world will know it,” Means said.

Means’ group is based in Porcupine on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

It is not an agency or branch of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Means ran unsuccessfully for president of the tribe in 2006.

Lakota tribes have long claimed that the U.S. government stole land guaranteed by treaties — especially in western South Dakota. “The Missouri River is ours, and so are the Black Hills,” Means said.

A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1980 awarded the tribes $122 million as compensation, but the court did not award land. The Lakota have refused the settlement. (As interest accrues, the unclaimed award is approaching $1 billion.)

In the late 1980s, then-Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey introduced legislation to return federal land to the tribes, and California millionaire Phil Stevens also tried to win support for a proposal to return the Black Hills to the Lakota.

Obama takes small lead in NH

In a new Boston Globe poll on the NH primary, Barack Obama has surged ahead of Hillary Clinton to take a 2% lead, 30-28, with John Edwards still way behind at 14%. Of course these numbers will dramatically change after the results of the Iowa caucuses. But these numbers again show that the Hillary train may be starting to come off the tracks. That said, if she does manage to win Iowa after all, she may be impossible to stop.