That confusion reign at the heart of the GOP is now indisputable. One only has to look at this weekend’s CPAC. The party of Lincoln and Roosevelt and not so long ago the party of government is fast descending into fringe condescension and has as it's standard bearers two narcissistic opportunists. In Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, the sole rationale for being conservative, it would seem, is to cream whatever financial rewards they can through the authorship of badly written compilations passed off as books or badly mouthed and bigoted pronouncements touted as radio broadcasting; both Rush and Ann are doing very well financially on the backs of a people who do not seem capable of distinguishing fact from fiction. Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter are the clearest manifestation that the lunatics are now in charge of the asylum.
The GOP already beaten once by President Obama during the election, seem to want to commit hara-kiri by taking that fabled and entrenched dogma of “we still know best, we have absolutely no need to change and we lost because we gave up on our extreme right wing ideology”. The message coming from them is so confused that you have their new Chairman Michael Steele, apologized that the American people had every right not to believe anything they said. But in the same breath he touted and echoed their penchant for tax cuts ubber alles in debating a very transformational President whose popularity still appear stratospheric.
One would have thought that, after losing to President Obama despite the play on “Conservatives holding on to religion and guns ....” statement by the then candidate Obama and the much looped Reverend Wright’s “God damn America” controversies, the GOP would have formulated a different strategy of response and tactic of execution. Instead they have resorted to confused, misdirected and rudderless rabble rousing.
Take for instance the new line of attack by that most hypocritical of the so-called conservatives, Newt Gingrich’s attempt to link and lump President Obama in with President Bush for the current economic crises. Unless Mr. Gingrich believes that the American is the most stupid person on God’s Earth, how could he possibly make that association in the expectation that less than two months into his Presidency, the American people would have forgotten who brought onto them the current wrath of a very displeased economic GOD. And herein lies the absolutely impossible task that the GOP has to deal with; talk about the government’s lack of fiscal responsibility when they presided over the biggest deficit in the nations recent history is not convincing; talk of over burdening future generations when they spent their way through the nations treasures without so much as a monument built in commemoration, except for corruption and the numbers of new graves for the Brave young men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to uphold the honor of their beloved nation on a distant shore sounds hollow and hypocritical; talk of bad economics when they created the conditions for the festering of the depression malaise that a very new and young administration has to grapple with even before it had taken office sounds disingenuous; talk of diminishing America prestige and influence when they have the dubious honor of their great leader being the only American President to have been ‘shoed’ by a foreign journalist when he was the guest of those journalists sounds farcical.
So the GOP is looking forward to when President Obama’s policies fail so that they can blame him and his party for the failure. Now let us look at how serious a challenge that may prove for the GOP to exploit more than for President Obama to explain. How does ending the war in Iraq render the President to criticism if that country descended into anarchy after the drawdown on US troops when he has already directed with ample notice period that the troops be brought home and only a non combatant compliment is retained and which would leave by a fixed deadline? It will only ‘fail’ if the Iraqis cannot look after themselves. But how does the failure of a democratically elected Iraqi government become the responsibility of a US Administration? Besides, the GOP likes his plan. It is just about the only thing they agree with him on.
Afghanistan as a coalition effort mandated by the UN and NATO is not the direct responsibility of President Obama although he has sought to highlight the dangers of ignoring that campaign for far too long. In fact, any failure there will be a vindication of his long standing complaint that too much focus went unnecessarily onto Iraq. And coalition partners in Afghanistan were not imposed upon to pull their weight.
The case of the US economy presents the worst case scenario for the GOP even more so than the rest of the litmus issues already described. Tax cuts for the middle classes, unemployment benefits and insurance for those who have lost their jobs, a foreclosure stay of execution for those struggling with their mortgages, health insurance for over eleven million children, the biggest reconstruction agenda for a generation, improvements for education, investments in alternative energy, assistance to States struggling as a result of the deep recession... etc.
Now let’s assume that no jobs are created at all (and that is quite some assumption) and the unemployment rate remains as is in 3 years hence. People would still see improvements in bridges and the road infrastructure, they will notice better classrooms and paid teachers, improvements in environmental awareness and steps to address them, a dramatic fall in the numbers of US Soldiers stationed abroad, a reduction in their tours of duty and their involvement in "dumb wars". The people still struggling for employment will be able to stay in their own homes and thereby have roofs over their heads and will be able to get sick without being bankrupt. Those still in employment, especially the middle classes, will still enjoy a reasonable standard of living and not see hikes in their levels of taxation. Since a lot of the jobs currently being lost are in GOP afflicted areas, a lot of ‘former’ GOP voters will come to appreciate the assistance they will be receiving from this so called and much maligned ‘Socialist’ government and may even decide that that type of ‘Socialism' may not be all that bad. Why? Because they would remember that this current President inherited all the issues from a GOP President. Most importantly, they will also remember that those aspects of policy that helps to ease their pain were passed without a single GOP support in the House and only three GOP Senators were brave enough to cross party lines despite a sterling effort by President Obama to be bi-partisan.
If there is a GOP GOD in existence it must know that 2012 will not be a GOP year. That will be when the real fruits of all this stimuli starts to really kick-in. And witnessing the disarray in which the GOP finds itself, it will take them more than three terms to get another look in; look at what happened to the British Conservative Party after Maggie Thatcher. The GOP’s redemption would be on the basis that it remodeled itself on a successful and winning formula; that of the Democrats and the GOP agenda then will be to portray themselves as the best placed to carry out the legacy of Obama. Now will that not be a turn for the books?
The GOP and the Beltway still underestimate President Obama. Some establishment types have great difficulty adapting to the new political order in Washington. These same types misread the writings on the wall during both the primaries and the election where they were out maneuvered by the then candidate Senator Obama, as he not only won the Democratic nomination but also totally defeated Senator John McCain , the GOP nominee.
The last week saw the GOP wade into pious self congratulation for their obstinate opposition to the signed stimulus legislation believing, as did the Beltway, that they had scored a major victory by denying the President his much vaunted bi-partisanship. The fact that the President still got what he sought; a stimulus legislation passed within 30 days of his taking office and that major GOP Governors including that of California seeking governmental assistance stood full-square with the President were totally oblivious to them. To the chagrin of the GOP, Beltway and in particular FOX News, the latest opinion polls seem to suggest that the American people are also full-square behind their President and had not read the script pushed haughtily by the Beltway and cable networks about a GOP victory in the tussle for bi-partisanship. The President’s approval ratings remain stratospheric, the Democratic Congress scores highly; in fact the highest they have scored to date and Representative Pelosi is more popular than the nearest GOP in either Houses of Congress.
Will the GOP grasp the new reality and muster opposition or just whine away in oblivion and irrelevance? That would be a shame because inasmuch as I support the President, I still believe in a strong but pragmatic opposition. That is not just good for American democracy but good for the President and a resurgent Democratic controlled Capitol. It would also signify once and for all that the GOP is now reformed and subscribe to proper and accountable government. That will not only be a testament sought by Americans but the wider World that we would never revert to what we just witnessed these past eight years.
The question though is simply will the GOP survive as a coherent political force in an Obama Presidency?
Violence is an industry. All industries employ people with a view to profit. Profit is not just monetary it can also be political. When people invest in violence it is because they hope to reap some benefit. US ordinary people (you and I) are just pawns manipulated by those who wish to use violence as a means of control and subjugation.
The issue of the Palestinians and Arabs/Muslims in general with Israel is something that has now generated its own life and path but I believe that the time has come for US the ordinary man and woman to stand up and proclaim that we ALL have a right to LIFE, LIBERTY & THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.
Let us also look at how we are being used by peoples and organisation to advance their own interests. That there is brutality in the Middle East and between Arabs and Jews is no secret but is anyone telling me that the violence is just one sided?
The Palestinians have become the subject matter used to express wider disenchantment about a lot of issues in the wider region. The Palestinian is a human being who craves life, peace and the pursuit of happiness and is also incredibly resourceful and hard working. But if I am employing you a Palestinian and your friends, neighbors, colleagues or relations come to my town to kill and maim people and sow terror for whatever reason, do I owe you an obligation to continue to employ you? Or why should I make it easy for you and others to be able to cross over into my town with the potential to pursue such hatred.
I see a lot of indignation about what Israel does and some of that indignation is deserved but I scarcely, if ever, hear Palestinians in the Gaza strip or in the West Bank openly criticise the perpetrators of violence especially Hamas. This tells me that those who live under Hama are NOT all free. They are not allowed the freedom of expression to protest against their 'so called' elected officials. And so long as the people are not free to express themselves I cannot believe that Hamas represents ALL the people.
For both sides of the conflict, it is important to understand that you cannot talk peace while you pursue terror. Any progress will be under the guise and perception that terror pays. I have also heard about how Hamas helps ordinary Palestinians in the provision of health care, housing and basic support. I think the Palestinian people deserve more than that. Can Hamas provide more health care than the rest of the world or more education than the rest of the world? I will believe Hamas works for the displaced, impoverished and long suffering Palestinian people when I see doctors, engineers, teachers, academics being created as a result of Hamas policies than teaching boys and girls to kill themselves as political instruments. If killing one’s self to achieve autonomy worked why do Hamas officials go into hiding and do not ride the streets in defiance of the enemy and challenge them to be killed? It is because they want your brothers, sisters and parents to die in THEIR cause to pursue POWER! The rhetoric is just that rhetoric!
And when peoples’ lives are so cheapen by their own political representatives why should your enemy value that same life that you do not value? So Hamas will give money to Palestinians whose homes and property have been destroyed to rebuild them. What about those whose lives have been wrecked? Those whose childhoods have been stolen from them? Those whose minds and well being have been damaged beyond repair? And all this because Hamas believes in conflicts of posturing which it knows it can never win. Not in the short term anyway. I do not call this love. What sort of love is it that seeks to repair what is material and almost irrelevant but does not care about what is the most relevant and most important which is the sacred life?
The Palestinian people have a right to life, dignity, LIBERTY and the pursuit of happiness but I doubt very much that they will get it through the use of mindless violence and terror perpetrated in their name by so-called leaders. And for those who sing about how brave Hamas are but very conveniently live outside Hamas control and do not suffer the consequences of their policies, I say shame on you!
There are those who will interpret my comments as being pro Israeli; far from it. My criticism of Israel is even harsher than this. But I fail to see how Hamas can reach the end gold it seeks by sacrificing the Palestinian people or bring undue hardship upon them by seeking to not only fight but pledging to destroy an opponent it cannot conceivably stand toe to toe with.
The time for peace has come. There is change; GENUINE change in Washington. I urge all Arabs, Muslims and true lovers of peace to embrace what this new American President has to say. It is the best HOPE in a generation and let us all pray to our God, our Allah, that we embrace him without the internecine rhetoric and demagoguery so we can ALL sleep peacefully at night and OUR children can grow to be older than we are and pursue their dreams.
The world; our world is the poorer when Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhist and non believers cannot come together to share in each other's knowledge and understanding so that we may propel the world towards true human peace and endeavor to harness the true potential of the human being and enjoy the abundant fruits of creation.
Please let us look forward and not backwards. Let us extend our hands to each other in true friendship and respect and see the true extent of creations wonders that await us in that sea of tranquility and peace here on Earth.
Salem aleikum.
Israel is being condemned by all and sundry for its latest incursion or as some would define it, invasion of Gaza. The shelling of UN compounds sheltering innocent civilians, the bombing of a UN school, the destruction of UN facilities storing much needed and scarce supplies and the use of phosphorous shells proscribed for use in civilian and populated theatres make some of us wonder what happened to Israel, the land we used defend till blue in the face?
I am saddened especially by the latest debacle and I seem to have the most peace when Israel is not in the news, because it would appear that the last decade or so has only brought about negativity for that young state.
A sad testament to what happens when a nation abandon its ideals under the ubiquitous guise of security.
If there ever was a nation on God's Earth, which should be very sensitive to attacks on civilians, women and children that state ought to be Israel. A just cause must carry world opinion. And yes, world opinion does matter, especially to places like Israel!
But then again, when you can get away with impunity time and again it becomes habitual. "The Palestinians started it", I can hear the apologists say. But what makes a nation civilized, is that it maintains its human decency especially in the face of unwarranted provocation.
When we stoop to the same levels of barbarity as those we seem to chastise, we reduce ourselves to a level even lower than that of which we chastise others and with that comes the erosion of our moral authority. Being the most powerful state or nation does not necessarily engender respect. Ask George W Bush.
The World is changing and Israel will do very well to change with it! And if anything Israel ought to listen to its friends and note that as others are already tagging this latest adventure as genocide or extermination demonstrates one thing; This world, our world, would not sit idly by and witness the wiping out of the Palestinians as an entity or as a people, only for a car or an aircraft to be named after them, generations down the line. No mas!
To All the Nanas, Toots & Grans of This World
I came to support Barack Obama because I grew more and more fed up with the fact that in a world of plenty many children go to bed without a roof over their heads and hungry. I grew more and more disillusioned that the most powerful and the richest nation on God’s Earth could not feed, clothe and provide a large swathe of its citizens with the basic decency of affordable healthcare. Most of all, I was depressed about a senseless war that drained the whole world of the basic freedoms we were supposed to be fighting to protect. I wanted a sensible person in the White House and all the White houses across this globe who would not ban a mother from carrying a baby’s formula milk on to a plane without the humiliation of first having to taste it in full public view, or where a passenger travelling on an airliner could not carry a bottle of water through security but could buy a liter of whiskey in a bottle and carry that onboard.
So even though I am black, I was looking more and more for plain old commonsense. And on reading about Barack and listening to him I was shocked to find a man who bristled with just basic commonsense.
Then I discovered that he is just about the same age as I am. He is going grey like I am, travelled a lot and lived in different states and even territories like I have, nearly as handsome as I am, we both have African fathers who were not around much and he was raised by his grandmother as I was.
Now that last fact of being raised by his grandmother was truly the clincher. Because I know that there is no better love than that given by a grandparent for a grandchild. My grandmother went up to the heavens when she was over 100 years old. She lived in Africa and I had the good fortune of visiting her just over a year before she went up into the clouds to be a kool nebula. When we met for the last time we laughed and cried together, hugged each other. Nana stood up and walked me to the door when I left – she had not walked the previous three months!
Here was a lady of immense class even if poor. Here was a human being of endless compassion even if she was suffering ill health. She was always there for me whether I was genuinely ill or just playing her for a nice meal of calf’s liver which I drummed up when nine years old, that it had been recommended by the doctor because I needed more iron in my blood. And here was the surprise. She knew all along I was telling fibs about the calf’s liver and yet she indulged me. Here was a person whom in all the years I lived with her never once saw her lose her temper or raise her voice. Here was a woman who raised seven surviving children four of whom were college graduates and numerous grandchildren of the same calibre yet did not even have basic education.
Now I have not blossomed into a potential POTUS but I know deep in my heart that I would most certainly be a lesser person but for her love and nurturing; how she spoke to one more with her demeanour and eyes than her lips. She instilled discipline without the crop. She installed the work ethic without enforcement. But most of all she loved abundantly and unconditionally.
When my Nana left this Earth I went to help lay her to rest and I wept. Not of sadness but of the wisdom and incredible love that this world was being denied and the fact that my children, her great grandchildren never got to meet the most special woman who nurtured and shaped my life. Most times I speak to her quietly because I know she would ignore me if I shout or am too loud. She always preferred calm tranquility to bawling and most certainly brain over brawl.
So if you do not understand why Barack suspended his campaign to become POTUS to go see his ailing Toots and running the risk of losing his momentum and lead in a very hard fought and contested race with just two weeks left, it is because without a shadow of doubt, if he were offered the chance or choice to choose between his Toots surviving another year without pain or him winning the presidency, I would bet my bottom dollar that he would choose the former. Because that is how great, Grans are.
And I pray that Toots stays strong beyond the next two weeks to watch her kin show the World not only how the dignified office of the President of The United States ought to be executed but that the most powerful and still most respected nation on Earth does better using its enormous wealth compassionately than in combat. Let’s steal ourselves a moment to reflect for the new global and world order that will be unleashed in the reign of an Obama administration that set the benchmark for generations to come and for replication across the globe. For he is a man with our sensibilities and instincts who recognises that the next two thousand years cannot replicate the distaste and debauchery of the previous two thousand, for times are far too important for business as usual.
So tonight let’s all raise a glass of whatever it is we drink in salute and honor of the Nanas, Toots and Grans of this world without whom our gene pool beside other characteristics would be more the poorer.
Let’s humbly and without fanfare of our own making usher in not just new blood, instincts and ideals but a sense of community, belonging, fairness, respect and yes, responsibility. It is now our turn. Our generation has to make the rules now going forward, and as we judged those generations who failed before us as harshly as we have done, we must work ever so hard to live up to the aspirations and the mantra of our calling that ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice but not by itself. For each one of us has to reach up and lend our weight to help bend it towards justice’. ……Gods speed!
Senator McCain before he even confirmed his participation in tonight's Presidential debate is already advertising that he won the debate.
Here is a man (an American hero) who cannot distinguish day from night, left from right, right from wrong or fact from fiction.
McCain for President? You must be joking!
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/09/mccain_wins_debate.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/images/26Sep_Friday_WSJ.JPG
AP Poll Finds Racial Undertone In Presidential Election
In attempting to determine why a nation in crises after nearly 8 years of Bush the minor’s stewardship of a morally, intellectually and politically bankrupt GOP and its aging nominee John McCain, who changes his views as often as there are storms in the gulf-of Mexico, still running neck-and-neck with the rival Democratic nominee Barack Obama, the poll with the help of Stanford University using very sophisticated analysis came up with a whopper! There is STILL racism in the USA!
Now I must say I am flabbergasted. Racism in the USA? Why, in the land of Lincoln and Roosevelt? The very sophisticated poll combining computer graphics with questions probing latently held views discovered that 40% of all whites and a lot of Democratic voters still held very negative and stereotypical views about blacks. They believed that blacks are their own worst enemies. Were violent, lazy and did not try harder. Only 59% of white Democrats, according to the poll, said they would vote for Barack Obama, and as much as 17% of Hillary Clinton’s supporters are willing to vote against their own interests and pull the clinger for McCain.
Now I am sure that most ordinary people did not require the sophisticated analytical tools of Stanford University to have come to the easy conclusion that there is still racism in the USA. Why else would candidates and parties spend a small fortune in attacking people for their race as the GOP did by attempting to ally Obama and former Fannie Mae Chairman Frank Raines. A more apt reference could have been Jim Johnson who as former Chairman of Fannie Mae was on Obama’s vice presidential selection team until his resignation. So why Raines whom Obama barely knew instead of Johnson? Raines is black and Johnson? You can guess!
More seriously, until recently the MSM had virtually given McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin a pass at being extremely economical with the truth. In fact some might say for telling bare faced lies! But then again a lying old man of their kin is better than any truth telling N…. any day.
But all the analytical tooling cannot hide a huge shock to the American psyche; that of a once mighty nation now in serious decline. America is growing old but doing so rather ungracefully! The mighty US$ is in perpetual decline, the famed US armed services are bogged down in a titanic struggle borne out by the insipient fantasies of men such as John McCain and carried out on the ideological idiosyncratic whim as those of his current running mate Sarah Palin; who is fast being coached to become the standard bearer of the now disgraced neo-conservatives.
The national economy is on life-support with the Federal Reserve (a private bank) urging the nation’s tax payers to bail out a bunch of hoodlums who have grown so greedy but so vast that anything else will lead to the death of the once mighty US economy - the engine room of the global economy! And that dose of urgent chemotherapy? One trillion US Dollars. That is $1,000,000,000,000.
Some Americans may be racist and racism may well be rife in the Democratic Party; after all some very prominent Democrats made their fortunes on the back of slavery and fought abolition tooth and nail. Remember the racist South was once solid Democratic territory. The 1956 Southern Manifesto, a Confederacy throwback some ninety-one years after they had lost the American Civil War, was signed by nineteen United States Senators. Seventy-seven members of the House of Representatives opposed to racial integration in public places also signed it. Of the ninety-six members of Congress who signed the Southern Manifesto, two were Virginia Republican Congressmen [three Southern Republican Congressmen refused to sign]. The rest were all Democrats. *Senator Richard Russell, Democrat of Georgia, co-authored the 1956 Southern Manifesto strongly defended white supremacy and voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
*Senator Albert Gore Sr., Democrat of Tennessee, voted against 1964 Civil Rights Act
*Senator Sam Ervin, Democrat of North Carolina (the Senator who chaired the Watergate Investigating Committee), signed the 1956 Sothern Manifesto and voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act
*Senator James O. Eastland, Democrat of Mississippi was a staunch segregationist and avowed racist who signed the 1956 Southern Manifesto and voted against 1964 Civil Rights Act and still served under Jimmy Carter as the Chairmen of the Senate Judiciary Committee and number three to assume the presidency. He served in the Senate till 1978; only some thirty years ago.
But all that notwithstanding however, what I am absolutely convinced about is this; American is not the same and will never be again unless it takes a very serious look at itself. The nation needs to look and reflect upon itself. For the missed opportunities, exploitation and greed under the guise of the free-market. No market is ever free. There is always a price to pay! The previous gravy train that led so many to only care about their self-interests’ and damned the rest, has left the station and never to return. There will be repercussions when Main Street washes away the blinkers and discover, as they will, that they have been had! Lied to! Manipulated!
Only one man is equipped with the candor, freshness, decency, honesty and integrity to deal with this highly explosive domestic tinder-box delicately. Only one man is predisposed to handle the associated international repercussions and pushback that the US will face when other more serenely managed economies suffer, stutter or even fail as a direct consequence of the free wheeler-dealings under the ubiquitous guise of the free market.
For this is a nation in addition to the $1 trillion to rescue high stakes gamblers who may well end-up keeping their ill gotten winnings at the expense of Main Street who may lose even their homes, is indebted to itself and the rest of the world (gross national debt plus debt held by public stock) by an eye-popping $9 trillion. That is $9,000,000,000,000. Put another way, which is $30,000 per every woman, man & child in America. But you tell that to the lazy, violent blacks not trying hard enough. The truth of the matter is that America may end up needing Barack Obama more than it knows and certainly more than he needs America. It may not seem a patriotic thing to say but most nations in this World, would welcome him with open arms. There are not that many American leaders in the current crop you can say that about. Fortunately, there are more Americans across the political spectrum who when the issues demand, it would seem, are prepared to put aside their superficial differences in color. I believe this is what drives Barack Obama in his pursuit of the Presidency. Well, the AP poll found that most whites say that blacks could improve their lot if they tried harder. Well Barack is hard at it trying. Hopefully these same folks will be prepared to help him help America.
So now you know why Barack & Joe have a fight on their hands. Why they together have to fight harder. They know things are far worst than they can talk frankly about without causing fear or panic. Oh, and for now Joe Biden is an honorary black. Barack and Joe will close the deal but they need your help and support. They need you to appeal to the good sense of a common purpose of ordinary folks so that Barack and Joe prevail. We need Barack to be the next POTUS. I am absolutely convinced that he will be. Or do you need a poll to tell you that?
We have witnessed the soul searching by all politicos and lovers of democracy about what some refer to as Hillary's unfortunate comments and her reasons why she remains in the race. After Hillary’s campaign first tried to rubbish and tough out the outrage, Hillary released a statement of undying affection for the Kennedy's and regret that her statement is seen as disparaging or offensive to the Kennedy Clan. She however made no retraction about the interpretation that she was still running in the hope that the candidate of HOPE may be assassinated.
People are recounting a similar message in March where reference was made about JFK's assassination, pointing out that it may be sending sublimal messages to Clinton's own and others wacko supporters to perhaps bring harm to the candidate of HOPE. In a week when a former GOP candidate made comment of a gun pointed at our candidate and a newspaper published a picture of him in the crosshair of a gun, this is an unwelcome distraction with a more sinister undertone.
Here is a message of assurance that I and MILLIONS of supporters of the candidate of HOPE wishes to send EXPLICITLY to the wonderful wife and beautiful daughters of the candidate of HOPE that we the supporters of the candidate, that we the people will NEVER agree to put his heartbeat between Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Presidency of the United States of America.
We also apologise unreservedly for any discomfort and anxiety that recent statements made may have caused.
Robby,
SaSa is not advocating that we do not discuss things here. Please track back to previous comments by SaSa which I thought was very kind considered and thoughtful.
Of course we are all appalled by the Mr. Huckabee's comments. And by the way, so is SaSa. All SaSa is saying is that we debate without recourse to the name calling; disagree without being disagreeable. SaSa is even going to write to the said Pastor and complain. That is bound to have a more meaningful outcome than just blustering and name calling here on this blog.
Please people let us be respectful of our opponents especially when they are not respectful to us. We are drawing a contrast between us and them in policies, character, demeanour and campaign strategy. It is the reason why a lot of the Evangelical Christians are here on our side. We are different and offering a different kind of politics. We cannot admire Barack and his core principles which include the practice of disagreeing without being disagreeable, only to go out name calling. It happens to the best of us but it is a temptation we must resist at all cost.
Huckabee made a boneheaded comment which he realised and apologised for. We may feel that apology was not strong enough, then we write about that or come up with a collective or individual actions like SaSa is planning to do by writing to Mr. Huckabee. But we should also find it in us to forgive a mistake, especially from a Pastor or Reverend.
We do not have to be angry anymore. Stay alert, yes but not angry. We are winning the argument. People from other campaigns are here to find shelter and to belong in our home which is also now their home, and they have as much a right to feel that they belong. And those of us who have been here all along and appreciate how difficult it was without them, owe it to ourselves but more to Barack ad especially to America and the World that the newcomers are welcome and made to feel at home . We cannot welcome people into our fold and resort to calling their previous candidates whom they still admire names. It simply shows a lack of etiquette.
Welcome to former supporters of McCain, Hillary, Edwards, Huckabee, Biden, Richardson, Kucinich, Dodd, Ron Paul and if I have not mentioned your previous candidate then it is not out of disrespect but rather age old forgetfulness.
Enough of the name calling. Let civility reign!! Peace brothers and sisters. United we stand, divided we fall. Lets Go Heal The world!
For all those who view Rev Wright as a monster please read this article. You may not necessarilly agree with his comments; I most certainly do not, but it would seem we are condemning a Minister of God without any attempt at finding out who he is.
It is better to have him in the open defending himself now so that he cannot be demonized or resurrected during the General by which time he will be old news.
FACTS:
1) Ex Marine who volunteered to serve his country
2) A former student of the Navy's Corpsman School at the Great Lakes Naval Training Centre.
3) Graduate Valedictorian
4) Then trained as cardiopulmonary technician and graduated number two in his class
5) Holds three White House commendations for his work as part of the team that took care of President Lyndon Johnson and other senior U.S. officials at the National Naval Medical Centre in Bethesda
6) Provided spiritual counsel to the Clintons at the height of their marital problems and was a regular visitor to the White House
Before you believe the politics of destruction do a little reading.
He has served his country and has earned the right to exercise his right to free speech whether Barack agrees with it or not.
http://www.usadaily.com/article.cfm?articleID=328626
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=225
"Every four years, politicians come to Pennsylvania promising to protect American jobs. And every four years they go back to Washington and nothing changes — because the special interests and lobbyists keep blocking change," Senator Obama said after the announcement the York Peppermint Patty plant in Reading, Pa., was closing and moving its operations to Mexico. "I'm running for president because working families can't afford to wait another four years while the same old Washington players play the same old Washington game," he said. "It's time to end business-as-usual in Washington so we can bring about real change for the American people."
Senator Obama said at a rally in Malvern, Pa
This statement and countless others like it have been made by Barack consistently on the trail railing against special interests. I guess we have heard it so often that it has become a non-resonating but sanguine part of what may be reflected as his stomp speech routine. But there really ought to be nothing routine or un-resonating about it.
With the Canadian NAFTA unsolicited biased intervention in Ohio and the Mark Penn Columbian faux pas we now learn of exPresident Clintons long held affinity to a Columbian trade deal. We need to recognize that when Barack talks about not taking money from registered Federal Lobbyists and PACs, and not employing active lobbyist in his campaign or in his White House he refers to a deep seated, ingrained and malaised politics that puts the interests of politicians before that of the ordinary electorate.
Politicians, who will triangulate, deny, obfuscate and be economical with the truth as a means of ‘pulling the wool over the eyes’ of trusting and unsuspecting voters who quite innocently but misguidedly come to believe in the integrity and honesty of politicians to their peril, feed that monster of cynicism. Such instances of ‘mis-speaking’ and embellished accomplishments feed into that cesspit of cynicism that renders politics as second only to indiscriminate whoring in the eyes of the people, thereby rendering a far greater disservice to communities, cities, states and nations. The signs are to be witnessed in the recent past in Russia, Kenya, Zimbabwe…. And as defenders of freedom we do a disservice to be uncritical of our politicians who stoop to Third World political tactics because it greatly erodes our moral authority to be critical of those who so brazenly abuse the core principles and tenets upon which our freedoms are based – Democracy.
We must stop lamenting the MSM’s lack of candour in reporting these issues of disingenuity on the part of the Washington insiders and elites and use our own viral networking to spread these issues at the core of Barack’s message.
It must not be okay for a politician to want to win at all cost as does Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe or Kibaki of Kenya or Hillary Clinton. It must be abhorred that a politician deliberately and consistently ‘mis-speak’ as an orchestrated attempt to gain latitude in seeking the most powerful political office on God’s Earth. And because it is such an important office which carries with it grave responsibility and moral authority, only those whom we believe to aspire to our highest held standards of political behaviour and probity should be allowed anywhere near that sacred office. And with a complicit MSM, it is left to you and me to wield the sword of truth and the trusty shield of fair play and spread that message by whatever means at our disposal; for it takes a few good people doing nothing for the worst amongst us to impose their warped will.
Let the battle be joined.
During the course of the Texas/Ohio nomination campaign, we have seen a member of our Democratic Party manipulate the media in addition to using fear and manufactured stories to attempt to derail the momentum of our candidate senator Barack Obama. This was to be expected but nonetheless shocking in its venomous falsehood and insincerity.
More shocking still was the doubts raised in the minds of some very fair weathered supporters who seemed to be in shock of the idea that it was possible for our candidate to be attacked even if the insinuations were false. Such supporters have the multiplier tendency to drag everyone down when times get tough as it will. For those supporters I refer to Hillary’s army of never say die feminists who still stand strong after what until this week were 12 consecutive defeats. I shudder to imagine what our fair weather supporters would do under similar circumstances.
The lessons to be drawn; and we must indeed learn from the Texas/Ohio nomination campaign are varied and numerous.
We cannot and should not expect that because we choose a higher purpose that others will be willing to follow
Our supporters should not shackle the campaign from going on the attack where it is deemed necessary. Hillary just proved to us that attacking sometimes works.
We ought to manage expectations better than we did last term and have a press or MSM strategy. Just because a journalist asks a question does not mean it must be answered
Our supporters should ALWAYS remember that Senator Obama is running to be POTUS (President Of The United States) and not the Pope
Senator Clinton and her team clearly believe that pending and ongoing legal issues are fair game, that integrity and vetting are also open season so let us engage her. Class and chivalry may be construed as weakness and we cannot be seen to shirk from taking on Hillary
The other side also believe that Senator Obama is responsible for statements and mistakes real or perceived by his team of advisors and surrogates so let us apply the same level of probity to her campaign from now on. She should be held accountable
It is heartening to note yesterday that the campaign started asking about the release of the Clintons tax returns for last year and it is about time. David Plouffe ought to take the role of asking those questions that Senator Obama may feel uncomfortable asking. The Genie is now out of the bottle and no one is going to accuse this campaign as being the one to have started with the negative campaigning.
The American voter requires answers on
-Her relationship with Norman Hsu and Bill’s financial ties to the emir of Dubai.
-What of campaign finance irregularities concerning pending litigation with Peter Paul?
-When asked about her claimed experienced dealing with foreign crises her advisers could not come up with anything
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/02/pregnant_pause.html
Senator Clinton’s efforts on ethanol overlaps her husbands interests http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/politics/28ethanol.html?_r=2&ref=politics&oref=login&oref=slogin
Tony Rezkos contributions to the DNC (Even the DNC during Bills Presidency thought he was reputable)
http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?20035431471
http://www.margieburns.com/blog/_archives/2008/2/2/3501879.html
The Arab link – Hillary said the Sovereign Wealth Funds ought to be scrutinized with more openness (Las Vegas debate Jan 15) how is she going to do that – Saudi Royals gave $10m to the Clinton library, Clinton is the investment adviser to the Emir of Dubai at $10m a year both countries operate significant sovereign wealth funds buying up strategic American business.
Will Hillary declare her family interest in assisting a Dubai based company which wanted to take over an American company that operated US ports, an attempt blocked on national security grounds?
Will Hillary declare her family Chinese interests in a Chinese company wanting to acquire 3Com an attempt blocked on national security grounds?
Where does she stand on foreign banks operating through sovereign wealth funds taking over American banks? )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvyGZUGZEpY
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/us-cites-concerns-sovereign-wealth/story.aspx?guid=%7BA0C6D031-4CB2-4955-BAE2-6F9E9A1F6B48%7D
Did the Clinton campaign reassure the Canadians then turn around and blame the Obama camp?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080305.wharpleak0305/BNStory/National/home
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/06/clinton-campaign-denies-canadian-report-on-nafta-comments/#comment-682549
Hillary’s claim of experience, national security credentials and other embellished claims are without foundation or substance but based purely on name and face recognition. It is time she was taken head on that name recognition does not imply trust and most certainly not experience. Being supported by four Generals does not make you a General!
They say by not placing his hand on his heart for the playing of the national anthem or not wearing an American Flag pin Barack is not a patriot. Well what about Bush the elder?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQKd4Rgdwpo&feature=related
Barack must challenge Hillary with her over inflated sense of self. Bring back that advert “Hillary will say anything and do anything but deliver nothing” it works and sums her up!
We are winning the Texas caucus and we raised $55m in February and have topped 1,000,000 contributors. We still have a lot to shout about!
I am fired up and let us put some heat up Team Hillary!
GO OBAMA 08
The 3 most totalitarian high powered regimes on God's Earth namely Saudi Arabia, China and Putin's Russia are ALL key allies of the US. Add to that Pakistan and you wonder who is naive?
Take Wahabi Saudi Arabia the home of Bin Laden the mastermind of 9/11 where women cannot vote, public floggings, stoning, amputations, castrations and beheading are common place yet the US sells them some of its most advanced weaponry and see it as a key ally. Lets pray Bin Laden does not succeed there like the Ayatollah did in Iran then we shall see whose policies threaten the security of the State of Israel.
The irony though is this; it was Russia that sought to influence Cuba by attempting to install missiles there that led to the embargo over 40 years ago. Putin of Russia is now Bush's best friend and communist Russia is a NATO partnership for peace (PFP) member but poor Cuba is still being punished. Is it because Cuba is a Latin/black / mix race nation?
What must be understood is that countries around the world feel that USA only talks to tyrants who are armed to the teeth. Russia, China & Pakistan all possess nuclear weapons. No dialogue with North Korea until it developed at breakneck pace nuclear weapons. You now start to understand why Iran and countless others are hell bent on acquiring these devastating weapons. They see them as the ONLY means to receive US respect; to be taken seriously, to be invited to the negotiation table.
Contrary to US perceptions, such arrogance occasioned by an inept display of double standards diminishes the respect for the US around the globe because other nations witness these acts and inconsistencies.
Look at the recent complaint by the Secretary for Defence that NATO allies are not pulling their weight in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. If the US thought so highly of that fight, how come it has spent in the intervening six years, the equivalent of what it spends in 3 weeks in Iraq? If a phoney war in Iraq is more important to the US than the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, why should others take it seriously?
When it comes to foreign policy, Barack is streets ahead of the Bush/Hillary/McCain/Neo cons failed strategy going back years. To understand this new argument, you need to be able to see yourself in the eyes of those who are not Americans. Only Barack can see this and it does not surprise me that a lot of Americans cannot fathom what to most non Americans is just simple commonsense!
For #24 JM (and all other offended Senator Clinton supporters)
It is time to accept that in a democracy (that includes the Democratic Party)a candidate can lose and except in Russia and China to name but a few, no candidate is inevitable. I can accept that like must Senator Clinton supporters you bought into this inevitability ruse hence the scale of disappointment.
Inasmuch as I commend your recognition that Senator Obama has been very dignified in this campaign, I think your disappointment for your candidate is leading you to make unsubstantiated allegations about young Obama supporters. I have found, in the main, some Hillary supporters like her surrogates to be rude, arrogant and offensive but I will not allude that to ALL of her supporters. I will not sanction any 'young' Obama supporters being insulting or offensive towards their elders or women after all they must have mothers too. No doubt some may misguidedly view this moment as 'pay back' time for the taunting and arrogance of some Clinton supporters but I think those are the minutest minority.
For yourself and others who cannot over come your disappointments and plan on voting against Obama instead of for McCain, it is a free country and a Democracy so your are entitled to vote as you please and live with your conscience thereafter for a hundred years Iraq war!
May I ask you one honest question and hope for an honest answer? On the basis of the campaign run thus far for the nomination; organization, style, management and efficiency could you place your hand on your heart and tell all on this blog that you believe Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has been the most effective, efficient and therefore most electable candidate?
You can blame Obama for trying to and being on the brink of denying your candidate the nomination but you cannot blame him for what is a woefully run and inept campaign by your candidate. And if the Republicans are as deadly as everyone claim, how will Hillary beat them when she cannot run a campaign? It does not matter how good a chef you think you are and how many Michelin stars you possess, if diners do not rate your culinary skills and cuisine or perhaps your attitude, you will receive no custom and you cannot blame the well run local steak joint across the road simply because some of his diners have a penchant to demonstrate their love of his cuisine at times too vociferously.
Visit the Obama site for 10 minutes. Witness the dynamism and enthusiasm. I wager you will find it hard to leave.
http://www.barackobama.com/index.php
Perhaps also look at his issues page for what he stands for.
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/
Campaign financing like other esoteric issues are being used by the coalition of Clinton-McCain axis to attack Barack and Obama supporters who unwittingly fall for this ruse will deliver the election straight to that coalition but in the person of McCain.
Public financing? Who is the public? We are the people are the public. Here are 5 reasons why Barack MUST NOT abide by this or fall for the ruse!
1) He is financed overwhelmingly by ordinary people. The same people who will put a tick on their tax returns to indicate acceptance of a few cents extra tax for campaign financing. The only difference here is that the public are taking ownership of the process and giving directly to Barack by-passing the establishment
2) He unlike Hillary and McCain does not accept Federal lobbyist, PACs or corporate lobbyist money for his campaign
3) McCain is being forced by his bankers to accept Public financing as collateral for that loan he took to finance his then bankrupt campaign. He is being compelled to accept Public financing as a requirement of his loan and NOT as a voluntary measure in the spirit of Public financing and is being disingenuous to pretend otherwise.
4) Barack unlike McCain and Hillary has released his tax returns demonstrating he has nothing to fear from being open
5) What the Republicans want is a Democratic candidate who is proven to be able to organize and raise finance beyond their wildest nightmares. If they can tie his hands so that he is restricted in the amount of finance he can raise, they then can rely heavily on their 527 swift boaters to do the extra campaigning for them outside of the election campaign finance rules.
This is not a simple case of Barack keeping a promise. The McCain Hillary axis have a whole different reasons for playing this ruse but it is an argument that as I have demonstrated, Barack can win! Do not be fooled!!!
