Obama for America

Inspired by his observation of the Chinese Government’s efficient management of the Olympics, George Bush has evidently returned to Washington full of exciting ideas he hopes will ensure John McCain’s victory in November.  And there is some evidence suggesting that some of the Chinese tactics have already found their way into John McCain’s 2008 Presidential election campaign. 

Last June, the St. Paul Police Department arrested a 50-year-old man peacefully handing out leaflets promoting a Sept. 1 march on the Republican National Convention.  It is not clear if US law enforcement will be as clever as Chinese authorities, who prevented large-scale protests by arresting those who are naive enough to apply for a permit to demonstrate legally.  But authorities expect to round up 800 demonstrators in Minneapolis, so even the most docile protester attempting to approach the Excel Center may be fair game for a round-up.

Like those intimidating Chinese drummers in the opening ceremonies who were instructed to smile, John McCain has been smiling a lot in his own public performances.  But his handlers, worried about invidious comparison with Barack Obama, are not taking chances.  Like the sweet little girl who was also in the opening ceremony, they will train McCain to lip-sync his acceptance speech while the words are spoken by one of his movie star supporters.  But it is not yet clear however which of McCain’s prominent thespian endorsers' characters will provide the voice.  So far, the three nominees in the category of Nominating Acceptance Speech are: Clint "Dirty Harry" Eastwood, Sylvester "Rocky" Stallone and Arnold "Terminator" Schwarzenegger.

But none of the Chinese measures has excited Republicans as much as the “passport solution”.  The GOP is taking its cue from China’s women’s gymnastics team, which was able to demonstrate that its athletes met the International Olympic Committee’s 16-year old age requirement by presenting Chinese passports.  So they are applying for a new passport that McCain can present as his government issued photo ID.  It will address concerns of some voters who believe McCain is too old by showing that he is only 35.  That will both meet the Constitution’s minimum age requirement and should reassure voters that he could easily serve two full terms as President.  As an added bonus for those constitutional scholars who question if  McCain meets the Consitution’s “natural-born” requirement because of his birth in Panama, the passport will list his place of birth (POB) as Panama City, Florida.  Problem solved. 

wizinit is the nom de guerre of a veteran diplomat and fan of the late columnist Art Buchwald who writes serious analysis and political satire.  If you would like to be notified whenever wizinit posts a new article click on and join Food Tasters For Obama.

Thanks to all who signed up and participated in the Barack Birthday Bake Off. There are four Food Tasters for Obama logo t-shirt winners instead of three, because we had a tie in the "organizing ideas" category. The winners  (three wonderful recipes are avaiable below the fold) are:

Best Recipe: Erica Rivera's Black and White Birthday Cake (an original recipe)

Best Photo: Hanneke Hoogstrate's Berry Spangled Baked Cheesecake and Banoffi Cheesecake on the Batavia (Jakarta Indonesia's colonial name, providing one more degree of separation from the candidate) ship's chest (posted on her Dutch website at http://www.blago.net/_baking_08/08_04_berry_tart.php)

Best Organizing Ideas:

--David Levy's (who prepared a Unity Pound Cake for 60 at an outdoor party of the Prince George's County MD office), and

--Michaele Camp (whose Sour Cream Pound Cake won the Bake Off hosted by Gena Bowser and Sharon Wilkerson at the Urban Tea Loft in Chandler AZ)

Congratulations to the winners.

Democratic US presidential contender Barack Obama in front of the Victory Column and waves to the audience in Berlin, Germany, 24 July 2008.

Speaking to a crowd of 200,000 in Berlin, Barack Obama issued a trans-Atlantic call for cooperation.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, is welcomed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the chancellery in Berlin Thursday, July 24, 2008. In the background is the the Reichstag that houses the German parliament.

There may be no state in the country considered as “safe” for Barack Obama as the Green Mountain State.  It is after all the home of former governor and current Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.  But I wonder what happened over the past two weeks to explain why 538’s state-by-state survey of electoral outcome probabilities slipped Obama’s chances of winning the Green Mountain State from 100% (a unique status it had shared with the District of Columbia) to 99% (with Rhode Island and Hawaii).

I doubt it is related to the size of Obama’s official campaign presence here, currently one full-time staffer embedded in the Vermont Democratic Party campaign office in Burlington.  Attendance at recent Obama county organizing meetings in Chittenden and Addison was respectable considering it is mid-summer and the election is 3 months from now.  After all, grass roots activists had no difficulty gathering required petition signatures, conducting canvasses, registering new voters, raising funds and mounting visibility long before the official campaign arrived in Vermont just 2 weeks before the March 4 primary.  And that effort built a strong foundation for the general election.

No public opinion polls have been published in Vermont since February, but these would probably be a waste of money.  Two polls conducted just weeks before the Democratic primary projected Obama beating McCain by margins of 34 and 21 percent.  How reliable were those polls?  The same polling organizations at the time showed Obama leading Clinton by 24 and 14 percent (Rasmussen 57-33 and Research 2000 53-39).  The far less scientific AOL straw poll at the same time showed him with a 20-point lead (60-40), very close to the actual primary results (59.31% to 38.59%).  So go figure. 

Well, that’s exactly what fivethirtyeight.com has done.  They have adjusted the February data to a current projection of 59.7% to 38% for Obama over McCain.  Since volatility is not a Vermont voting trait, barring some major development, you can probably bank on 538’s prediction holding on November 4.

While most Vermonters are excited about bringing CHANGE to Washington DC, the same does not necessarily apply to their state capital, Montpelier.  This is a very unique election year.  Neither of Vermont’s highly popular Senators, Democrat Patrick Leahy nor Independent (democratic socialist) Bernie Sanders, is up for re-election.  And Representative Peter Welch, finishing his first term as one of the country’s most effective freshman in Congress, will have no Republican opponent in November, though he will face an anti-war activist in the Democratic primary and a Progressive Party candidate in the general election.  So, all attention is on the Governor’s race, with Republican Jim Douglas running for his fourth two-year term against Democratic House Speaker Gaye Symington, with Progressive Party candidate Anthony Pollina as her potential spoiler.

So far, Election 2008 looks to be a bifurcated event that will focus far more resources on the state race than on the national contest.  Both Democrats and Republicans have already raised the specter of coattails effects in November.  Democratic Party officials talk of Obama drawing enough new voters to the polls to help Symington overcome the State’s tradition of voting for candidates irrespective of party affiliation.  Republicans cautiously whisper of a reverse coattail effect, with McCain benefiting from a loyal turnout to re-elect Douglas.  These may be prime examples of wishful thinking.  It is doubtful that “coattail” is going to become a causative verb in Vermont any time soon.  Why?  Because the ties that connect these local candidates vertically to their national tickets are nebulous when compared to the strong ties that bind them horizontally to other state party officials.

Top Vermont Democrats like Leahy and Welch certainly boarded the Obama bandwagon early in the primary race.  But their party has failed to court Obama’s most active grass roots supporters who are engaged in politics for the first time.  

Perhaps more importantly, while most Clinton supporters in Vermont will certainly vote for Obama, it is not clear what role her state campaign chair, former governor Madeleine Kunin, is going to play at the Denver Convention.  

UPDATED: She is currntly a leading advocate for an Obama-Clinton "dream ticket", choosing for now to play the yenta.  But there are forces within the Democratic Party, like PUMA and the Denver Group,  ready to cause havoc at the convention who would be more than happy to seize on "Hillary for VP" as their battle cry, as well as highlighting the party's schism through a roll call vote for President.  By late August, Kunin may have to choose between party unity and loyalty to Hillary and her personal cause of promoting women in politics.  And that decision ironically could affect both her state party's prospects of electing another female governor as much as the national party's opportunity to elect the first biracial President.

On the Republican side, Governor Douglas knows he is better off distancing himself from his party’s standard bearer.  Otherwise, he risks having to defend McCain’s erratic personality and unpopular positions before a skeptical electorate.  It will be much easier to present his own narrative of a steady demeanor and record of cautious stewardship.  In fact it is his Lieutenant Governor, Brian Dubie, with whom he forms Vermont’s sole surviving Republican “team”, where coattails may help if at all.  But this November, it is probably going to be casual Tuesday.  And that means “No Ties, No Tails”.

wizinit is the nom de guerre of a veteran diplomat and fan of the late columnist Art Buchwald who writes serious analysis and political satire.  If you would like to be notified whenever wizinit posts a new article click on the logo to join Food Tasters For Obama.

Here are my favorite photos so far of Barack's trip.

Barack Obama surveys Baghdad with General David Petraeus

Barack Obama and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai enjoyed a traditional lunch of mutton, chicken and rice washed down with a yogurt drink.

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama greets U.S. troops at Camp Arifjan, the main U.S. military base in Kuwait. He stopped there Friday en route to Afghanistan.

Favorite Video - Kuwait - Obama Hoops with Troops

(Click on photo to link to video)

 Sen. Barack Obama, left, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, during a meeting in the West bank city of Ramallah, 23 Jul 2008

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) meets Israel's President Shimon Peres (not pictured) in Jerusalem July 23, 2008.

Obama at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial

Today I received the following email, presumably anticipating Obama’s August 4 birthday:

“Does anyone know, what is Senator Obama's favorite kind of cake?  Please let us know. Thank you.  David”

As a result of David’s inquiry and for the benefit of all those with similar questions, I’ve compiled most of the reliable information about Barack’s eating habits.  It’s not easy sorting through all the phony facts on the internet sites where they ask: “What is Obama’s favorite food”.  There are lots of pranksters on the loose.  I did chuckle at the Republican who claimed Obama’s favorite is “waffle,” but there are a lot of racist jokers with puerile and predictable suggestions, like KFC, fried chicken and watermelon.

So here’s the scoop. According to the NY Times of May 27, his personal assistant during the campaign, Reggie Love, revealed:

Senator Obama “eats pretty much anything, from chicken wings and barbecue and ribs to grilled fish and steamed broccoli.” But when he is campaigning in a small town with limited options, a cheeseburger is always a good bet. (“Cheddar is the cheese of choice,” Mr. Love added.) He knows that “the boss,” as he calls Mr. Obama, likes MET-Rx chocolate roasted-peanut protein bars and bottles of a hard-to-find organic brew — Black Forest Berry Honest Tea. He keeps a supply of both on hand.

Here are other known likes: Planters Trail Mix: Nuts, Seeds & Raisins, Roasted almonds, Pistachios, Water, Dentyne Ice, Nicorette, Vegetables (especially broccoli and spinach), handmade milk chocolates from Fran’s Chocolates in Seattle.

The NY Times reported the candidate’s efforts to quit cigarette smoking included chewing Nicorette gum.  One reported side effect of Nicorette is heartburn. 

And dislikes: Mayonnaise, Salt and vinegar potato chips, asparagus (“if no other vegetables are available, he’ll eat it”), and Soft drinks.

In response David’s specific question though, here’s what Obama McCain Comparisons says (which appears to give you carte blanche in deciding what to bake for the big day): 

“According to Obama’s daughters he doesn’t like sweets so much... he does like pumpkin pie.” 

This same site as well as others claim that based on an interview on January 18 of this year Obama’s favorite restaurant is Italian Fiesta Pizzeria in Hyde Park, Chicago, IL.  The website tried, but failed to identify Obama’s favorite toppings.  This restaurant is known for its thin crust pizza and spreading toppings to the edge of the pie.  His view on where he likes to eat appears to be one position Obama has not changed since he clinched the Democratic nomination.

Obama apparently also enjoys shrimp and grits, though it is not clear if that is a home-made or eat-out dish.  

One thing is absolutely clear.  Chili is Obama’s favorite food to cook and/or bring to a potluck.  In fact, here are his own words and recipe:

“I’ve been using this chili recipe since college and would bring it to any potluck. I can’t reveal all the secrets, but if you make it right, it’s just got the right amount of bite, the right amount of oomph in it and it will clear your sinuses.”  

Ingredients: 1 large onion, chopped; 1 green pepper, chopped; Several cloves of garlic, chopped; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 pound ground turkey or beef; 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin; 1/4 teaspoon ground oregano; 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric; 1/4 teaspoon ground basil; 1 tablespoon chili powder; 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar; Several tomatoes, depending on size, chopped; 1 can red kidney beans.  

Method:  

Sauté onions, green pepper and garlic in olive oil until soft.  Add ground meat and brown.  Combine spices together into a mixture then add to ground meat.  Add red wine vinegar.  Add tomatoes and let simmer, until tomatoes cook down.  Add kidney beans and cook for a few more minutes.  

 

Serve over white or brown rice.  Garnish with grated cheddar cheese, onions and sour cream.

There you have it.  Of course Obama may develop a hearty appetite in the course of this campaign.  So maybe after November 4, when asked what Obama likes to eat, you’ll just have to say: “McCain’s lunch!”

wizinit is the nom de guerre of a veteran diplomat and fan of the late columnist Art Buchwald who writes serious analysis and political satire.  If you would like to be notified whenever wizinit posts a new article click on the logo to join Food Tasters For Obama.

With exactly two weeks to go to August 4, participants in Barack’s Birthday Bake Off are franticly preparing for the big day.  Most are happy just to celebrate while organizing for the campaign.  But many are admittedly drawn by the chance to win an attractive t-shirt with the Food Tasters logo (see sample at http://www.onemillionstrong.us/showDiary.do?diaryId=1313); I know I’d be.  So here is our best effort to answer your questions and lay out the contest rules:

1.  You must be signed up for any one of the “Barack’s Birthday Bake Off” events hosted by “Mark Wiznitzer” on my.barackobama.com, such as the event at White House zip code “20500” at: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/organizing/4g9y9#rsvp  

2.  All contestants, except employees of the Obama campaign, must be registered as a member of “Food Tasters for Obama” at my.barackobama.com no later than midnight August 4.  Not yet a member?  Sign up at http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/FoodTastersforObama.

3.  One Food Tasters for Obama t-shirt will be awarded to the winner in each for the following three categories: a) best recipe, b) best birthday campaign organizing idea, and c) photo of the best decorated desert. 

4.  After you have complied with requirements 1 and 2 above, submit your entry via email to markwiznitzer@gmail.com.  Entries must be received no later than 11:59PM EDT on August 5 (in European that’s Greenwich 04:59 on 060808).  To be considered the subject line of the email submission must read: “BARACK BIRTHDAY BAKE OFF CONTEST”.  Sorry, as good as it may taste, we won’t be able to personally sample your baked goods (unless you happen to be in the Champlain Valley on August 4, in which case, let us know).   

5.  Entries need not be your own original, recipe, idea or decoration, but then you must indicate the source of your inspiration.  Winning recipes, campaign organizing ideas and decorations remain the “property” of their owner, but will be shared with the world by Food Tasters for Obama.  By your entry you acknowledge your compliance with these conditions.

6.  We are not responsible for any emails that are not receive on time, are blocked by spam or other internet security filters, attached files that cannot be opened or viewed, or any terrorist incident or acts of public disorder, floods, earthquake or other natural disasters that may interfere with our ability to recognize your brilliant effort and reward you with a t-shirt.

7.  Selection of winners will be entirely subjective, but this competition is open to anyone who supports Barack Obama for President, including but not limited to employees of Price Waterhouse, the Obama campaign, its surrogates and volunteers, first-time voters, former Hillary backers, Obamicans, or any minors or non-US citizens who would vote for Obama if they could.

Good Luck!

Obama wipes his forehead at a Montana campaign event in May. 

McCain's handlers think they were owned.  Photo-analysis suggests that Barack Obama may have been play-acting when he pulled out a hanky and patted his forehead at a campaign appearance in Montana two months ago.  And the two lost months may cost McCain the election if the candidate, who is known for his volcanic temper, has a Nixonian moment of perspiration during the Presidential debates this Fall.

It's all part of a game of hot potato that the two camps have been playing, trying to stay cool under the constant glare of media scrutiny.  Until today McCain's people believed they were going to win because Obama had fallen for the Republican's challenge to visit  Baghdad, where the average high this month is 115 degrees.  But then the news reported: "No sweat."

The confirmation was contained in today's AP story about Obama's suspicously frequent workouts, in which photo-journalists were quoted as saying that:

"even when he shot hoops earlier this year with members of the University of North Carolina varsity men's basketball team, they didn't see Obama sweat."

 

The report has the McCain campaign in a panic, for what was suspected and feared is now confirmed:  Obama is cool, literally as well as figuratively.  It's not just that he made the cover of Rolling Stone, GQ and Vibe.  They knew McCain didn't stand a chance going one-on-one against Obama for the Metromale vote.  That was a given.  But it's the image of McCain as a sweaty old guy who turns off Hillary Clinton's women voters they were counting on to win that has them worried. 

Sources who did not want to be identified because they are not authorized to discuss the sensitive subject confirm that a hush-hush project code-named "Operation Bikram" has been launched from an inconspicuous office at Republican National Committee headquarters.  GOP operatives are simultaneously scouring the aisles of drug stores nationwide to find the most effective anti-perspirant and reviewing comparison tests of moisture wicking underwear.  Separately a top-secret team of technicians, specialists in heating and cooling, is ready to move in and take over any debate venue that registers above 65 degrees. 

These precautions are all intended to manage McCain's known tendency to get hot under the collar at the slightest provocation.  And when really provoked McCain is known to breathe fire and sweat bullets.  "It's hard to get John to cool off after one of these incidents," says an old family friend.  "But that's why he has been so happy with Cindy, becuase he knows that at the end of the day he'll go home to an ice-cold Bud."

wizinit is the nom de guerre of a veteran diplomat and fan of the late columnist Art Buchwald who writes serious analysis and political satire.  If you would like to be notified whenever wizinit posts a new article click on the logo to join Food Tasters For Obama.

Obama Supporters at Paris' Pont des Arts

Primary voters in early states were mightily surprised when they learned the man on the phone named "Skipp," whose genial voice urged their support for Barack Obama was calling from... Japan!  Retired as president of Boeing Japan, Skipp Orr is one of many Obama supporters abroad who are doing what they can.  In Skipp's case that also included fundraising and speaking to expatriates and students near his second home in Toulouse, France.

Like their counterparts at home, these supporters have formed grassroots groups and networks to help elect Obama.  They are highly motivated, having witnessed and experienced first-hand the decline abroad of respect for America under the Bush Administration.  So they take to the tasks of campaigning -- making calls, fundraising, writing to local publications, voting as Democrats Abroad, and requesting absentee ballots for November -- with tremendous fervor.  And they have coordinated one of the most novel approaches to "visibility" through the Bridges for Obama project.

   London's Millenium Footbridge

To date, Obama supporters -- American and foreign -- have conducted their visibility in over 35 countries, on every continent.  Meredith Wheeler in France describes the effort:

"The project is gathering photographs and videos of Obama supporters around the world, posing at, on or under famous or scenic bridges, displaying Obama banners--the bridge being an ideal symbol for the Obama candidacy. Bridges unite two banks, spans chasms, gaps and troubled water, brings together opposing sides."

Lebanon's Sowfar Bridge - Yes We Span!

A video montage of the project may be presented at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August.  But in the meantime, you can view a slideshow of the Yes We Span groups doing their thing here.  A full list of the countries and bridges (several have multiple locations) is provided below. 

Vienna - Obama supporters on the Kennedy Bridge

Which brings me to another related bridge matter.  New York State has voted to rededicate and rename the Triborough Bridge connecting New York City's Manhattan, Queens and Bronx boroughs.  Culminating a year of events honoring his life and commemorating the 40th anniversary of his tragic death, it will officially become The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in November.  Now is a good time to learn more about or contribute to the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights.  

Senators Frank Moss (D-Utah) and Robert F. Kennedy (D-New York) with Art Buchwald (center) at Glen Canyon Dam in 1967.

Barack Obama’s first trip to Europe as the “presumptive” Democratic nominee will consist of stops in Great Britain, France and Germany.  Only one public speech is planned on July 24 in Berlin.  The exact location is not yet announced.  But psericks has provided fascinating political, historical and even architectural details about the Brandenburger Tor and other possible venues.
 

Obama’s campaign has proven itself as masterful (if you forgive the faux blue Presidential seal and treatment of ladies in head scarves) at choreographing the backdrop for his speeches as he is in delivering them.  Berlin should be no exception.  It is a thriving pan-European cultural center 63 years after WWII and two short decades since German unification.  And it is full of people who, like a majority of Germans, are wildly enthusiastic about Obama.  Europeans generally appear to hope Obama will be the anti-Bush, sent to heal America’s heart and soul.  So at whatever place Obama eventually speaks, there should be an enthusiastic throng and prospects for a great “photo op.”

Of course, photo ops can be tricky (see insert for a personal recollection of Jimmy Carter’s missing Caracas photo op).  And truly meaningful and lasting memories, like the words and visuals of the Kennedy and Reagan visits, require an almost divine alignment of man, space and time.  It is not certain that all these constellations are yet in proper orbit for Obama’s visit, however.  For one thing, he will actually be speaking to two important but very different audiences. 

Quest For The Perfect Photo Op 

President Jimmy Carter made a visit to Caracas, Venezuela in March 1978.  I only vaguely recall the event even though I was personally there.  It was supposed to be the start of an important visit to Latin America in the wake of the Panama Canal Treaty having been signed, ushering in a new era of US-Latin American relations.  However, from my vantage point as a very junior officer serving at U.S. Embassy Caracas, it was not particularly eventful.  And while the embassy’s senior staff jostled for “face time” with the President, I was assigned minor logistical duties.    

I do clearly recall though that the White House advance team was obsessed about finding the perfect photo op.  There were rumors it might appear in or maybe even make the cover of Time magazine.  They decided to go for a still shot of Carter and Carlos Andres Perez (CAP), at the time riding high at the peak of Venezuela’s oil boom, walking through the colorful gardens at La Casona, the presidential mansion.  I’ve searched, but could not find such a photo through Google. 

There is, however, a small picture of the airport arrival ceremony in Google images and The American Presidency Project’s transcript of both presidents’ remarks.  Reading the remarks today evokes pathos.  For less than a year later, Ayatollah Khomeini would return to Iran, another OPEC country, to lead the revolution that would ultimately cause Carter’s downfall.  And in his second term 15 years later, CAP would be forced from of office on corruption charges after surviving a military coup in 1992 by a young lieutenant colonel named Hugo Chavez. 

The online transcript of the ceremony says that Carter delivered his speech at Simon Bolivar airport in Maiquetia in Spanish.  If he did, I missed it.  I was too busy behind-the-scenes making sure the President’s entourage boarded the cars waiting on the tarmac to whisk them all to Caracas.

First and most important is the audience that will not even be there: the American people.  They, of course, will elect the next President.  In a normally slow summer news cycle, Obama’s current world tour -- which also includes stops in Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan -- will be closely watched here at home.  However since the US media cannot be relied on to accurately report this trip, the Berlin speech is probably the most important opportunity between the last primary in early June and the Denver convention in late August for Obama to speak directly to American voters.
 
The other audience will include the people at the speech itself, as well as millions of other Europeans who are watching our presidential election with awe and expectation.  For reasons related to their education, media focus and historic reliance on America, this audience is extremely well-informed about our politics.  In fact, the average European may be as well or better informed about our national politics as the average American.  But after the 2000 and 2004 elections, many Europeans have lost confidence in our ability to conduct elections and in our capacity to make a rational decision about who will lead us. 

As much as Americans and Europeans have in common, and there are many ties that remain strong, these two audiences will assess Barack Obama’s performance in Berlin with different concerns and sometimes contradictory perspectives.  Americans need to get to know Obama even if they don’t want to.  Europeans want to get to know him even if they don’t need to.

Americans face this summer preoccupied by immediate economic problems here at home: the rising cost of gas and food, loss of jobs, home foreclosures and failing financial institutions.  As Europeans head out on their traditional extended summer holidays they worry that America’s economic meltdown is dragging down their own banks and jeopardizing their unprecedented standard of living.

America worries about how it can safely extricate its troops from Iraq and restore the rule of law undermined after 9/11.  Europe worries that it will be pressured to step up its commitment of forces in Afghanistan.  And many Europeans wonder if the next Administration will be prepared to prosecute US officials responsible for violating international laws, conducting renditions, maintaining secret prisons and practicing torture.

America is struggling to assimilate the latest wave in a long history of immigration.  Europe is wondering it its current immigrant population explosion is a threat to its religious and cultural identity, like the Ottoman conquest that was blocked somer 300 years ago. 

Americans were united geographically following the Civil War, but national partisan divisions based largely on “values” and ideology now stymie government’s ability to provide for the public weal.  European countries have for the first time achieved a semblance of transnational unity based on voluntary association, but they now struggle with how further to proceed further with institutional and policy harmonization. 

When Barack Obama speaks in Berlin, he will be simultaneously addressing these disparate and sometime conflicting realities.  His greatest challenge will not be adapting his style, but accommodating the substance of his oratory.  For trying to satisfy one audience may not please the other.  The challenge calls for an artful and nuanced construction of both words and ideas.  We know that Obama is capable of meeting that challenge, but it will help considerably to have a great speechwriter who can provide the quotes to go along with the visuals.

wizinit is the nom de guerre of a veteran diplomat and fan of the late columnist Art Buchwald who writes serious analysis and political satire.  If you would like to be notified whenever wizinit posts a new article click on the logo to join Food Tasters For Obama.

The Obama campaign has launched an all-out effort to help Hillary Clinton retire her debt.  Obama’s national finance team members (bundlers) are being asked to go back to the well and get their donor friends to kick in up to $2300 (maximum allowed by law) to Hillary Clinton’s primary campaign.  Donations will be designated for Hillary Clinton’s “2008 Primary Election Debt Retirement”.  Donors are being assured that the money will not be used to pay back Hillary and Bill Clinton’s personal loan to her campaign, which they reportedly are recognizing as a loss.  The campaign’s message is that this financial help is critical to ensure party unity and secure the support of Clinton’s backers – both donors and voters – for Obama in the general election.  I’m not convinced.

The major sticking point with most Obama donors revolves around the nature of and reason for the debt, which are obvious to backers of both candidates.  No one can blame Obama supporters for not wanting to pay off Hillary’s debts to Mark Penn and his firm, estimated to be anywhere from $2.5 to $10 million dollars.  There is also the widespread belief that Clinton’s debt is due in large part to her drive to win a few more states and rack up more delegates even after her decisive loss in North Carolina and bare victory in Indiana made it mathematically impossible for her accumulate enough delegates to win the nomination. 

Most small Obama donors also reason that Clinton should get those “die-hard” supporters of hers, those 18 million ceiling-crackers she keeps talking about, to kick in just a couple of bucks each and she’d be home free.  Even without Limbaugh’s crossover chaos Republicans in Ohio, Texas and Indiana, who never intended to vote for Hillary in the general.  Even discounting the poor white Democrats the Clintons mobilized so effectively in places like western Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Kentucky, who just can’t spare the change right now.  Hillary should still be left with over 12-15 million voters who are not maxed out.  But getting voters to back their electoral choices with cash -- even if it is only one or two bucks -- is as hard as getting them to agree voluntarily to pay more taxes to retire the federal debt.  It ain’t gonna happen.

And how much unity do Obama supporters who dish out up to $2300 get for their money?  So far, it looks like the answer is “not much.”  In fact, some Hillary supporters like the Denver Group and P.U.M.A. who should be out there asking her voters to kick in are instead investing in confrontation with DNC Chairman Howard Dean and a strategy to revisit Chicago ’68 if she does not get the nomination after all.  

An unintended consequence of these die-hards' efforts is that they are undermining efforts by serious Clinton supporters like that other former Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin to memorialize through a roll call vote Hillary’s historic achievement as America’s first major female candidate for President while confirming Obama as the party’s legitimate nominee.  Until Hillary herself publicly rejects these distractions from unity and indicates she will personally call for the unanimous convention endorsement of Barack Obama’s nomination you maybe want to keep those 2300 dollars in an FDIC insured account.

wizinit is the nom de guerre of a veteran diplomat and fan of the late columnist Art Buchwald who writes serious analysis and political satire.  If you would like to be notified whenever wizinit posts a new article click and join Food Tasters For Obama.

In just over three weeks Barack Obama will be 47.  And over 70 Obama supporters have already signed up for the big event on August 4, Barack’s Birthday Bake Off.

What better way to celebrate than with Baked Goods?  Food Tasters for Obama is hosting this nationwide event.  Sign up here, and send in your ideas, photos and recipes.  The best ones will win prizes like this first run t-shirt.

Bake your favorite desert recipe in honor of Barack.  And use this event to raise funds, attract and register voters or organize friends of Obama.  Here are some of the ideas we’ve received so far from other Obama supporters:

•  
  • Lois: “I will make a peach cobbler.” 
  • Beverly: “Great Idea...will think of something special to do along the lines of Voter Registration!”   
  • Jessica: “We'll bake oatmeal chocolate/cherry cookies to celebrate and share them with our friends :-). The recipe can be found in the Obama cookbook.”   
  • Joan: “I definitely will be there!  Since I wont turn oven on in summer (energy preservation), I will go directly to Whole Foods for an August 4th birthday treat for our leader.  There will be singing, candles, and we will consciously taste and eat it for him.”   
  • Julie: “Great Idea the 'winning's should be donated to the Obama fund!! Let's get him IN the White house!! ~ ~ now there an idea...a White house cake !! :) let's have fun with this !!”  
  • Sarah: “Here is my recipe, but it was copied from an old Sara Lee ad years ago: Thaw a Sara Lee Pound Cake and cut lengthwise.
    Cut a one-inch thick slice of Neopolitan ice cream and trim to fit on the cake.
    Put the other half of the cake on top of the ice cream.
    Frost the whole thing with Cool Whip.
    Down the middle of the top of the cake, place maraschino cherries next to each other in a long line and put half a pecan on either side of the cherries.
    Put the cake back in the freezer.  Take out 15 minutes before serving.” (Sounds deeelicious) 
  • Brian: “It's safer for all involved if I do not cook. But I'll go to McDonalds and stick a candle in an apple pie.  Happy Birthday Obama!”
  • Dianne: “His birthday is 4 days after mine, same year, so we will kind of be celebrating together!”
  • William: “I won't be baking but there will be cake. My birthday is August 4th :)  I guess I'll have to share that day this year. But it was mine first. I'll be 49.” 

Join in folks.  If you just are not into baking, don't fret.  Just buy a birthday cake to celebrate. (We at Food Tasters for Obama are more into the eating than preparing anyhow.)  Or you can just light a candle and sing Happy Birthday.  Celebrate while organizing for Obama.

wizinit is the nom de guerre of a veteran diplomat and fan of the late columnist Art Buchwald.  If you would like to be notified whenever wizinit posts serious analysis or political satire, click on the logo to join Food Tasters For Obama.

It was supposed to only be a light  "makeover".  But Michelle Obama's June 18 appearance on The View has thrown both the gourmet and nutrition worlds into a tailspin.  It was all going so well too, until the closing segment discussing breakfast.  That's when Michelle revealed that she likes to get her breakfast protein from... sit down when you read this: bacon! 

Sure, she also eats toast and fruit.  But it was the Everyman's Side that has the food world buzzing.  It seems like just yesterday that we learned Barack Obama was an Elitist Modern Metro Man when he talked about the price of arugula at Whole Foods.  Well, just fogetaboutit! 

And they're not talking about a love of fancy rashers here.  No gammon or flitch, jamon or lardon.  Not even Canadian or peameal bacon.  And certainly not turkey bacon.  No, according to Michelle both Obamas are fond of good, old-fashioned American bacon. 

Not everyone is walking around in shock after Michelle let slip the Obama secret, however.  Traders at the CBOT were salivating at the prospect of a surge in activity on pork bellies, while environmental advocates were dusting off long abandoned projects for converting bacon grease to biofuels.  And Food Tasters for Obama has sent its members an urgent appeal for volunteers able to consume a regular diet of high sodium and saturated fats.

Meanwhile, John McCain expressed surprise over media attacks on his wife's latest example of plagiarizing recipes.  It was revealed this week that Cindy McCain tried to pass a slightly modified Hershey's oatmeal butterscotch cookie recipe as her own, and two months ago the McCain web site removed her "family recipes" after it was learned they had been filched from the Food Network.  Coming to her defense, McCain said critics who call her a cereal offender are "delusional" and display "a perfect manifestation of a September 10 mindset." 

wizinit is the nom de guerre of a veteran diplomat who is a fan of the late columnist Art Buchwald and comedian Andy Borowitz.  If you would like to be notified whenever wizinit posts serious analysis or political satire, click on the logo to join Food Tasters For Obama.

The Candidate-Nominee Crossover

The first article in this series described how some of the most astute political observers were “blindsided by Hope” and Barack Obama’s historic victory, convinced America would continue to be ruled by Freak Show politics.  Eleven organizational principles guided Obama’s campaign for the nomination, which relied heavily on grass roots and community organizing tactics.  The successful “early states” strategy provided enough momentum to carry Obama over the finish line, a race he won by the only measure that counted: delegates.

This article offers a candid assessment of the campaign’s challenges as Obama goes from being a candidate to the nominee.  Obama will adapt his management approach to the general election campaign, internalizing electoral strategy as an important part of the corporate culture.  The internal challenge is melding a grass roots movement with the Democratic Party establishment and limiting expenditures on paid political ads and services.  The external challenge is to avoid inevitable distractions and stay on message.  Obama can reassure voters by convincing them he can best promote their enlightened self-interest and through his selection of a running mate and shadow cabinet.  The result could be an historic and major pendulum swing in American politics.

Part II continues below the fold.

On January 12, I posted "It's The War Economy, Stupid!", which argued that our economic meltdown was directly related to the war in Iraq.  Back then I tried to explain that the sub-prime mortgage crisis was but the leading edge of a much broader problem with the credit markets, aggravated if not precipitated by the fact America had gone to war after cutting taxes and without making provisions to raise revenue to finance our foreign adventure.  It gave me no satisfaction (nor did I get any credit) when the editors of The Nation published a similar article two months later making much the same points as I had that was entitled... that's right: "It's the War Economy, Stupid!" 

The Nation complained that the candidates had not linked "war spending with our economic woes", and that John McCain's long term ideas on Iraq threatened to balloon our national debt well beyond a conservative estimate of $3 trillion.  In the electoral contest ahead of us, McCain will suggest that Barack Obama's promise to withdraw from Iraq threatens a disaster.  He will also lead the GOP drumbeat to paint Obama as a tax-and-spend Democrat who will only make life miserable for all Americans, while McCain would make permanent Bush's tax cuts. 

I have news for America.  Remember those Bush tax cuts that John McCain now believes should be made permanent?  You are actually still paying that same amount, but we're not calling them "taxes".  And while conditions are already dire for many, those payments are not going to the US Government to pay for the war, healthcare, education, college education, veterans benefits, or rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure.  None of it.

No, you are actually paying more than they said you would "save" on taxes to... the countries from which we import crude oil.  And 40% of our imported oil comes from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Venezuela.

If you're interested in my methodology, here's my calculation.  The cost of crude oil has gone from $32.21 on January 21, 2001, the day Bush was inaugurated to $131.38 this week, that's up to 400% over the past seven plus years.  In the ame timeframe, the cost to buyers in Europe of the same barrel went from Euro 34.15 to Euro 85.21 just under 250%.  So Americans pay 150% more relative to Europeans compared to 2001.

Now some will argue that this difference is the result of a major devaluation in the dollar.   But the weakness of the dollar is a reflection of our economic and political mismanagement.  The fall in the dollar's value is tied to global perceptions that the US has practiced reckless fiscal as well as monetary policy while conducting two wars and becoming globally less competetive.  As for the reality of pricing, that is based on where you live and which economy you are embedded in.  So if you are Joe Blow in Podunk USA earning dollars, you pay in dollars, while Jan Jansen in Kabouterstad NL earns Euros and pays in Euros.  And Joe's effective increase is 150% greater than Jan's.

This means the relative cost to America is equivalent to $51 more per barrel than to Europe.  And since we import 9.618 million barrels per day, that works out to $179 billion/year, or $588.81 for each American man, woman and child (or $2355 for a family of four).  And the Bush tax cuts?  Well that came to $1 trillion dollars over the first 6 years, which works out to an average of just over $548 per person per year (or $2192 for that family of four).  And of course you know that the wealthy received a disprorportionate share of those "cuts".  That means in the end most Americans have ended up paying far more in "taxes" to foreigners than the Bush and the US Congress "cut".  And the candidates cannot begin to explain this fact cause they're too busy looking for "whitey" tapes and explaining "fist bumps".

wizinit is the nom de guerre of a veteran diplomat who is a fan of the late columnist Art Buchwald and comedian Andy Borowitz.  If you would like to be notified whenever wizinit posts serious analysis or political satire, click on the logo to join Food Tasters For Obama.

Hillary the Inevitable

Like the rest of us, Barack Obama learned from the media that Hillary Clinton will announce the suspension of her campaign for the Democratic Party's nomination for President this Saturday.  And while there is all sorts of gossip about what will happen next, for now the drama continues. 

Just last week, Bill Clinton complained that he'd "never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running."  Well look again, Bill.  Because your wife just succeeded in performing a 10-point-perfect double-dis against Barack Obama.  First she stiff-armed his historic claim to the party's nomination with her "victory" speech on Tuesday night.  Then the next day she ignores the most basic courtesy of telling her party's nominee she is dropping out of the race.  She even passed up the opportunity to do so in person at the AIPAC conference.  What a class act!

All's not well in Hillarywood.  The problem with this picture show is the "suspension of disbelief."

Suspension of Disbelief

In the world of fiction you are often required to believe a premise which you would never accept in the real world. Especially in genres such as fantasy and science fiction, things happen in the story which you would not believe if they were presented in a newspaper as fact. Even in more real-world genres such as action movies, the action routinely goes beyond the boundaries of what you think could really happen.

In order to enjoy such stories, the audience engages in a phenomenon known as "suspension of disbelief". This is a semi-conscious decision in which you put aside your disbelief and accept the premise as being real for the duration of the story.

Suspension of disbelief only works to a point. It is important that the story maintains its own form of believability and doesn't push the limits too far. 

Hillary Clinton herself introduced the concept last September when told General Petreus that his Iraq progress report required "a willing suspension of disbelief."  But then so did much of her production of "Hillary the Inevitable", which regularly stretched the imagination to convince the media and public that she really had earned the nomination. 

For example, her suggestion that party caucuses are undemocratic, that caucus state voters don't count, or that popular votes including the unsanctioned primaries in Florida and Michigan determines the winner.  For five months we almost forgot that the story was all about delegates.  So we have to concede she put on a fine show.

Sure, there were those plot lines that just did not seem to work because the evidence was so obvious.  Like landing under sniper fire at Tuzla, or the policy on drivers licenses for non-resident foreigners, or the gasoline tax holiday.  But as always, the talented Clinton Producer-Director-Acting team gave us a performance that spanned the spectrum of emotions.  In fact, those scenes, from tears in NH to that distinctive laughter at the debates, will live on in memory long after show is over.

Sequel: Dream Ticket

Before we have even seen the last episode of their previous production, here comes the sequel, in which Bill and Hillary decide she would make the ideal Vice President.  But now the suspension of disbelief is really to be tested.

First item is the casting.  We don't yet know what part if any Geraldine Ferraro, who in the original production effectively portrayed the angry-older-white-woman with a hint of racist rage, will be allowed to play this time around.  It looks like Bill Clinton, who previously as the male lead pretentiously suggested Barack take the minor part as her running mate even though he was ahead by every measure, will have fewer lines and be assigned a far smaller role at best.  This is bound to make the entire story far less exciting.

BET founder Bob Johnson has already proven himself entirely miscast as the supplicant to the Congressional Black Caucus for Hillary-as-running-mate, which was just plain unconvincing.  And everyone will miss Terry McAuliffe (last seen doing shots of Bacardi with Mika Brzezinski, presumably on their way to rehab) and Howard Wolfson, both of whom should be way too busy selling their tell-nothing books in the months ahead.

However, the greatest challenge to the suspension of disbelief will be those plot lines we just skimmed over the last time around.  There is that little matter of being "fully vetted" and 35 years of experience.  For a start, the new script-writing team of Johnson, Kennedy and Holder will have to struggle with Hillary's first radical law work in San Francisco and the performance review of her part in the Watergate investigation.  And of course there are all those comments she made about Barack Obama over the past several months.

It's also not clear how the next episode will treat the problems hinted at by Vanity Fair.  Forget about undocumented sexual innuendo.  After Sex in the City and Larry Craig in the Minneapolis airport, that part is probably a sleeper.  No, I'm thinking of Bill's high-flying friends and library donors.  And those hints of influence peddling disguised as speaking and consulting fees on the joint tax returns.  Now those issues could be a real problem reconciling with Obama's political themes.  And if he adheres to the "no-drama" genre of inspiring documentary, the Clinton sequel could well be scrapped for a lack of both political and financial support.  Just stay tuned.

[Cross posted at www.onemillionstrong.us and www.dailykos.com]

It may just be an unintended consequence of the historic trend eroding the traditional respect for the First Amendment's establishment clause.  Or are we being treated to what is just another installment of the series known as "Clergy-Gone-Wild"?  Does anyone else find the role played by men-of-the-cloth (and I would include women, though they seem to be having a hard time breaking the glass "celestial" ceiling) in modern political life entirely inappropriate?  Or am I alone in this?

So after suffering through the distractions this year of Wright, Hagee, Parsley and Pfleger, may I propose an ancient spiritual remedy: The Vow of Silence!

[Original posted on www.onemillionstrong.us on May 30, 2008]

por Barack Obama

Word on the streets from Brooklyn to Boca is that former President Bill Clinton is shopping for a matchmaker.  He wants to arrange a dream ticket between Hillary and “presumptive” Democratic Party nominee for President Barack Obama, a prospect that has Food Tasters For Obama salivating.  That may help explain why New York Governor David Patterson reports “we’re starting to see a little desperation on the part of the woman who I support and I'll support until whatever time she makes a different determination.”

Hillary still insist