I just found out about this very important service for Barack Obama supporters.
http://sendbarackyourbaby.com/
Barack Obama travels a lot, but many babies live in places he hasn’t been. That’s why he’s now accepting babies by mail. Send him your baby, and he’ll kiss it and send it back to you.
Okay, so I actually launched a website at http://obamabettis08.com. I'm hoping to have some fun with it, and to show that politics doesn't have to alway be boring or wonky. The first thing I did was create a bunch of black-and-gold Obama themed icons and desktop wallpaper backgrounds. They can be downloaded free off the site.
So feel free to download and use this stuff to express both your love for our Steelers AND your support for Obama at the same time!
Given that their party is on the wrong side of pretty much every issue - thinking tax cuts for rich people are the solution to every economic problem; being against higher fuel mileage standards that would have kept the price of gas down, protected our environment, and preserved thousands of good-paying union jobs; wanting to stay in Iraq forever; wanting to start even more wars in Iran and Syria; opposing extending unemployment benefits to help workers after a record jump in unemployment; opposing a G.I. Bill that would help todays war veterans go to college just like their parents and grandparents did - its unsurprising that their party and its mouthpieces have given up on trying to win this election on the issues and are resorting to character assassination, mudslinging, smear campaigns, and pretty much flat-out lying.
Generally they can't even dig up that much on Barack Obama, so they resort to taking out-of-context quotes from everyone who's ever met the guy and using their talk-radio and cable-news "pundits" to create the illusion of some sort of mass outrage. One of their current smears is that Michelle Obama is unpatriotic. So you see otherwise intelligent people who obviously know better spouting this nonsense on every cable news show that will have them, using the Himmleresque axiom that if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth, regardless of the facts.
As usual the "experts" on the show - whether journalists or often spineless democrats - fail to do their job and actually correct the record, either because they're too incompetent or too scared of confrontation. So as usual, it falls to all of us to do the highly paid hacks jobs for them.
In that vein, I got this email this morning:
Steven Hayes, senior writer with "The Weekly Standard," said on "Race for the White House with David Gregory" on MSNBC tonight the following about Michelle Obama: this is an exact quote of what he said:"she said that she wasn't proud of her country until her husband was essentially close to the nomination."NO ONE corrected him. The other members of the panel were Rachel Maddow, Eugene Robinson and Michael Smerconish. Here are the facts. Please blast David Gregory and his bosses. I also have Eugene's email address. I'm tired of this urban legend. Send them this report from The New York Times of what she really said and WHEN she said it. Note: the video no longer works but it doesn't matter- her whole speech is all over you tube and The New York Times is a good enough “reference” for the truth.First of all she made this remark on February 18th, far from Barack having the nomination. And another thing they are so careful to play anything McCain says in context and in full- like his Today show comments this morning that were replayed all day in their entirety – why doesn't Michelle Obama get the same treatment???MSNBC all day made SURE to play McCain's explosive comments in FULL CONTEXT to protect him! If you missed it: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/06/11/1132092.aspxHere's the truth on Michelle: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/blogtalk-michelle-obama-under-fireThe CaucusThe New York TimesFebruary 19, 2008, 5:40 pmBlogtalk: Michelle Obama Under FireBy Ariel AlexovichMichelle Obama has been criticized in the past for being too frank, like when she divulged that her husband, Barack Obama, unchivalrously leaves his laundry on the floor and sports terrible morning breath.But never have her words sparked such an outcry in the blogosphere and among commentators here on The Caucus.Needling her husband is one thing, but some folks are interpreting her remarks yesterday as a direct slam on America and calling them unpatriotic. They came back into the forefront today when Senator John McCain's wife Cindy took an indirect swipe by saying she had always been proud of America.To step back, let's put Mrs. Obama's comments in context. She made this statement during a speech in Milwaukee on Monday: “What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback. And let me tell you something — for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. I've seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues, and it's made me proud.”
Steven Hayes, senior writer with "The Weekly Standard," said on "Race for the White House with David Gregory" on MSNBC tonight the following about Michelle Obama: this is an exact quote of what he said:
"she said that she wasn't proud of her country until her husband was essentially close to the nomination."
NO ONE corrected him. The other members of the panel were Rachel Maddow, Eugene Robinson and Michael Smerconish. Here are the facts. Please blast David Gregory and his bosses. I also have Eugene's email address. I'm tired of this urban legend. Send them this report from The New York Times of what she really said and WHEN she said it. Note: the video no longer works but it doesn't matter- her whole speech is all over you tube and The New York Times is a good enough “reference” for the truth.
First of all she made this remark on February 18th, far from Barack having the nomination. And another thing they are so careful to play anything McCain says in context and in full- like his Today show comments this morning that were replayed all day in their entirety – why doesn't Michelle Obama get the same treatment???
MSNBC all day made SURE to play McCain's explosive comments in FULL CONTEXT to protect him! If you missed it: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/06/11/1132092.aspx
Here's the truth on Michelle: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/blogtalk-michelle-obama-under-fire
The CaucusThe New York TimesFebruary 19, 2008, 5:40 pmBlogtalk: Michelle Obama Under FireBy Ariel Alexovich
“What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback. And let me tell you something — for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. I've seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues, and it's made me proud.”
Lets face it, this "unpatriotic" smear is just a load of hypocritical horseshit. Conservatives who spent all of the 90s riding around with "I love my country but I hate my government" bumper stickers now want to claim that any criticism of the U.S. Government is unpatriotic. Conservatives who complain endlessly about secular values and liberal media and the like have no right to feign outrage when someone else says that American society and culture is not perfect.
And clearly, what Michelle Obama said on Februrary 18th is in line with how most Americans feel. We've lived through decades of partisan bickering, petty poltics, polarization, and putting party before people. We've all been sick of it, but felt powerless to do anything about it. Now, finally, the American people are saying, "enough is enough". We're getting involved, demanding change, and people in both parties have nominated decent folks who they think would make good presidents, not just the guy with the best zingers or the one they think is the least of all evils.
And yes, that does make us proud. Admitting that the way politicians have conducted themselves for the last few decades gives us little to be proud of does not make one unpatriotic. It makes one honest.
One more time for the cheap seats, here's what Michelle Obama actually said:
Here's what she didn't say:
I'm unpatriotic and I hate America. And whitey.
Now that Senator Obama has clinched the nomination and Senator Clinton is backing down from her threat of a convention fight, we can expect a lot of speculation and advice on potential running mates.
Obviously there has been great discussion of putting Hillary Clinton on a so-called "dream ticket." Others have pointed to the various merits of Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, Governor Kathy Sebelius of Kansas, Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, and even Mayor Bloomberg of New York.
Those are all fine candidates, and perhaps soon I'll delve into my thoughts on each of them. But for now I'd like to propose what I think would be the perfect ticket. The vice presidential candidate I envision needs the following qualities:
Ladies and gentlemen, there is one candidate I know of who fits all of these criteria. One candidate who would truly make the perfect running mate.
I submit, for your consideration, the following ticket.
Obama/Bettis '08.
Get on the Bus.
A few years ago my buddy Lenny got invited to join one of those group blog dealies, back when they were starting to be all the rage. He declined, with the witty phrase, "Hey, I've got my own blog to ignore."
That's sort of how I feel in setting up a my.barackobama.com blog. I barely post on my own site (http://davidgrenier.com) anymore. Plus, I'll be honest, I've gotten pretty squicked out by political blogs, the echo chamber fanatacism, the make-mountains-out-of-molehills arguments, and the endless timesuck they become.
But still, I vowed if Obama won the nomination I would try to get more actively involved in the campaign. When I came to my.barackobama.com, a great deal of prominence seems to be given to blogging. So I'll create a blog, and try to remember to update it now and then (likely with crossposts from my own site). I can't promise this'll be great, but I can promise I'll grow to hate it by November.
Hopefully I'll spend more time actually volunteering and such than just blogging.
