Obama: Uniter?

Excellent article by Tom Maquire at the Just One Minute blog, pulls together quotes on the Obama/Jeremiah Wright mess from some of the world’s greatest thinkers.

 While I recommend reading the entire piece with the strongest possible urging, here are a few excerpts of note:

Barack Obama:  “more than any other candidate, I can bridge some of the partisan as well as racial and religious divides that have developed in this country that prevent us from getting things done.“

But can that bridge reach to his own minister, Reverend Jeremiah Wright?  And will Wright be willing to cross it?

more…

The WSJ excerpts a Wright Jeremiad delivered in Jan 2006 at Howard University:

Mr. Wright thundered on: “America is still the No. 1 killer in the world. . . . We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns, and the training of professional killers . . . We bombed Cambodia, Iraq and Nicaragua, killing women and children while trying to get public opinion turned against Castro and Ghadhafi . . . We put [Nelson] Mandela in prison and supported apartheid the whole 27 years he was there. We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God.”

His voice rising, Mr. Wright said, “We supported Zionism shamelessly while ignoring the Palestinians and branding anybody who spoke out against it as being anti-Semitic. . . . We care nothing about human life if the end justifies the means. . . .”

Concluding, Mr. Wright said: “We started the AIDS virus . . . We are only able to maintain our level of living by making sure that Third World people live in grinding poverty. . . .”

Lest you think the minister was just having a bad day, here is the Rolling Stone from Feb 2007 describing a Wright sermon in his own church:

Wright takes the pulpit here one Sunday and solemnly, sonorously declares that he will recite ten essential facts about the United States. “Fact number one: We’ve got more black men in prison than there are in college,” he intones. “Fact number two: Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run!” There is thumping applause; Wright has a cadence and power that make Obama sound like John Kerry. Now the reverend begins to preach. “We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns and the training of professional KILLERS. . . . We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God. . . . We conducted radiation experiments on our own people. . . . We care nothing about human life if the ends justify the means!” The crowd whoops and amens as Wright builds to his climax: “And. And. And! GAWD! Has GOT! To be SICK! OF THIS SHIT!”

Maquire echoes my earlier thoughts that if Michelle Obama has spent 20 years listening to that kind of garbage, one can begin to understand her comments about having never been proud of America until Barack’s political surge.

Perhaps Barack’s exposure to this hate-mongerer offers insight into his issues with flag lapel pins, saluting the flag, singing the national anthem, etc.

Obama’s Iraqi Flip-Flop?

From National Review’s The Corner:

Piling On   [Cliff May]

Guess who said:

“The failure of the Iraqi state would be a disaster. It would dishonor the 900-plus men and women who have already died.”

And who do you think said:

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for Congress to make those decisions about what happens in the field.”

Bush? Cheney? Angelina Jolie? Wrong camel-breath! Both quotes were made by Senator Barack Obama, the first in 2004, the second in 2006. These quotes are in Michael Gerson’s Wa Po column today.

But Gerson notes that Obama later changed his tune: calling for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq by March 2008 – that would be right now – and had that policy been followed it “would have undone the Anbar Awakening, massively strengthened al-Qaeda and increased civilian carnage.”

File under: Politics as usual

 

Barack Obama: Changing Politics? Or Same Old Same Old?

A main theme of  Democrat presidential front runner Barack Obama’s campaign is railing against “Washington lobbyists,” decrying their influence peddling and the general intermingling of finances and favors as “what’s wrong with Washington.”

While we all agree that K Street is out of control, the reality is that many ”lobbyists” are actually just representatives of the people–normal working people who are too busy to get involved themselves and choose to address their grievances about issues important to them by pooling resources with other like minded citizens.

Still, in the minds of most American voters, “lobbyist” ranks just below “terrorist” on the Danger to the Republic Totem Pole. Obama’s anti-lobbyist rhetoric is met with wild cheers all across the land. His supporters, many of whom are unable to cite any specific Obama positions or accomplishments, explain their attraction to the candidate as based on his ability to change “politics as usual.”

But the veneer continues to peel off of this “fresh, new kind of leader.” Within weeks of Obama’s election to the United States Senate, Barack’s wife, Michelle Obama was promoted by her employer, the University of Chicago Hospital, and received a 260% raise from $121,910 a year to $316,962! (USA Today)

Yesterday, America’s saviour from the politics of greed and grift used his Senatorial position to push through a million dollar windfall for, you guessed it–the University of Chicago Hospital.  

 Obama, can talk about hope and change and the end of politics as usual as much as he’d, but this looks like your basic, garden variety chicanery, the kind of political silliness that’s left Congress with an 11% approval rating.

He becomes a Senator… She gets a raise… He back-doors them a cool million…

Have a nice day.

The Audacity of Hate

Thoughts on Barack Obama’s hate mongering “minister” – Jeremiah Wright – coming soon.

RIP WFB

William F. Buckley Jr. (1925-2008)

National Review Online’s  [Kathryn Jean Lopez] comments on the passing of National Review founder William F. Buckley Jr.:

I’m devastated to report that our dear friend, mentor, leader, and founder William F. Buckley Jr., died overnight in his study in Stamford, Connecticut.

After year of illness, he died while at work; if he had been given a choice on how to depart this world, I suspect that would have been exactly it. At home, still devoted to the war of ideas.

As you might expect, we’ll have much more to say here and in NR in the coming days and weeks and months. For now: Thank you, Bill. God bless you, now with your dear Pat. Our deepest condolences to Christopher and the rest of the Buckley family. And our fervent prayer that we continue to do WFB’s life’s work justice.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Mr. Buckley, the father of the modern conservative movement. Look what a difference one man can make. An inspiration to many to be sure.

A friend said it best earlier today, “William F. Buckley made his point.”

Heaven is a more entertaining place tonight.

Sail straight and true, old friend…

More:

Rush Limbaugh’s Touching Tribute

NY Times Obit

 

McCain Just Lost Ohio

Sen. McCain just apologized for remarks made by WLW-AM talk show host Bill Cunningham at a Cincinnati McCain rally. The remarks? Cunningham referred to Obama as a, “Chicago Daly political hack” and twice used his middle name. CNN’s John King asked McCain, “Is Barack Obama’s middle name appropriate in this campaign?” Sen. McCain answered, “No. It is not. Any comment that is disparaging…”

Wait a minute. Using Obama’s middle name is considered ‘disparaging’? It’s his middle name! Barack Hussein Obama is the name his father and mother gave him! I’ll go down on record right now as saying that I find it disparaging to consider the use of his middle name disparaging.

In addition to apologizing for Cunningham’s comments, McCain denounced them. Cunningham, a conservative who had only recently, and reluctantly, backed McCain, found McCain’s reaction to his comments as confirmation of all the reasons he was reluctant to endorse him in the first place, and he’s, understandably, moved away from McCain.

The problem is, Bill Cunningham is extremely popular and influential among Ohio Republicans. Many observers credit Cunningham with delivering Ohio, and thus the presidency, to GW Bush in 2004. If Ohio proves to be a battle ground in November, Cunningham’s support, or lack thereof, might be decisive.

The incident has the potential to further alienate conservatives, who are already skeptical of the Senator.

Dear Texas + Ohio:

Republicans in Texas and Ohio who are considering crossing over to vote in the Democrat primary to vote for Obama–that’s NOT the play! A vote for Obama does a couple of things that aren’t good for Republicans. First, it ends the Democrat primary. Obama wins. Game over. No more in-fighting amongst Democrats, their guns will be pointed toward John McCain. From the Republican point of view, keeping these two fighting with each other (and not with McCain) for as long as possible. Second, GOP votes for Obama play into the narrative he is trying to establish that portrays him as “able to bring the country together”–part of the evidence of which Obama cites are the Republican votes he’s received.

The real play for Texas and Ohio Republicans is to vote for Hillary Clinton. Putting aside the fact that I never imagined recommending voting for any Clinton under any circumstance, any more than, I’m sure, any of you ever imagined voting for them. However, if they can hold their noses and punch the hole out for Sen. Clinton next Tuesday, they will actually be making the most effective contribution to their cause.

GO HILLARY! lol

Elite Tabloid Press

For years conservatives and other thinking folks have struggled with how to refer to the media. We’ve kind of settled on “the mainstream media,” Rush Limbaugh prefers “the drive-by media,” others go for the simplicity (and acute accuracy) of “the liberal media.”

With few exceptions, journalism amongst the so-called mainstream media is dead.

Face it–they’re activists. We already know this. Folks like Brent Bozell have spent a life’s work meticulously documenting this. What’s been fascinating about this campaign cycle is how the liberal media has turned on one of their own. Finally, there’s a liberal in the free fire zone. The Clintons are getting a taste of what we’ve dealt with for years–much at the hands of the Clintons. The vast majority of the media coverage this campaign has been decidedly pro-Obama and anti-Clinton.

The media have chosen to choose sides rather than report the facts. Nothing new there, but add that to the increasing space and time allocated to Britney Spears kind of stories, and a general move toward the National Inquirer / TMZ.com style coverage and I think the time has come to call these clowns what they are. The elite tabloid press.

Don’t let the word ’elite’ scare you away from this moniker. First, we know they long to be elite. They live to be elite. So, let’s call ‘em elite. After all, they’ve taken tabloid journalism to an elite level, no?

The Audacity of Self-Import

Sen. Obama published his autobiography in 1995. 

Four years BEFORE Sen. John McCain!

Anybody else find this laughable? It’s also telling. Obama clearly sees his life, his story, as extraordinary–annointed by the universe as some sort of chosen one. Harsh? Yes, but how many of us would even think of writing an autobiography a couple years out of college?

Contrast Obama with Sen. McCain who, despite his compelling and heroic story of capture and imprisonment during the Vietnam War, inspiring recovery (genuinely the stuff of movies) and 25 years of accomplishment in the nation’s capitol,  didn’t even feel compelled to stop and reflect on his life long enough to put it on paper until 1999, when the Senator was in his 60s.

More and more stories are poppipng up that cast the Obama campaign as messianic, calling those voting for him more followers than supporters. Let’s go to the video:

 

Many have called the whole thing ”creepy” and I can’t disagree.

Old Grey *Ugly* Lady

The New York Times has published a 3000 word story attacking Sen. John McCain on character and corruption.

The McCain camp says, “The New York Times has lowered it’s standards to engage in a hit-and-run smear campaign.”

Reading more like a National Inquirer “Alien” headline than a lead piece by “the paper of record,” the story doesn’t backup the insinuation it leaves with the reader. In addition to being barely sourced and thin on facts, the timing of the piece is curious. With the campaign of Democratic Party front-runner Barack Obama entering hour 36 of their first real speed bump (see below) as the lead story, a juicy John McCain story would undoubtedly  move the elite tabloid press (formerly referred to as the mainstream media) away from the Obama scrutiny.

The NY Times piece would likely be rejected by a first year journalism professor as unsourced, full of innuendo and politically motivated. Even if The Times editorial board deemed these accusations credible and worth further investigation, the details as currently assembled warrant no more than a sentence or two.

Instead, we get a piece three times longer than the average story (source) that even an opposing campaign wouldn’t dare release.  The new “charges” imply an affair between Sen. McCain and a 40-something lobbyist, who in addition to sleeping with the Senator, allegedly squeezed legislative favors out of him as well.

Deftly dancing around the lack of sources, evidence, or even actual charges, the authors provide just enough innuendo for readers to draw the conclusions they want them to. Worse, The New York Times uses the “new charges” as an excuse to bring up–in great detail–the story of McCain’s divorce to his first wife and 20 year old charges about the his role in the Keating Five scandal.

Attorney Bob Bennett, who many remember as the guy who got President Clinton off the hook in his perjury trial, appeared on Hannity & Colmes (Fox News Channel) last night to defend McCain. Bennett, the Special Investigator who investigated the Keating Five and, specifically, John McCain for 18 months said, “…This is a real hit job…and…I suspect it’s only because John McCain is winning so much that we are even reading this story.”  Bennett, a Democrat, exonerated McCain, recommending that he be removed from the Keating Five investigation.

This is a sad day for journalism in America and an even worse day those associated with The New York Times.