The following picture shows when Clinton started her speech,
Obama was looking around and looked back towards us, and we cheered and waved so he smiled and waved and my heart skipped a beat! You can see this happen on the video footage.

Having lived in Dearborn MI until recently, it was not unusual to see women wearing traditional middle eastern garb including the Muslim burqa/hijab (although many of these immigrants from the middle east were Christian refugees).

(By the way, this would be a more unusual scene here in Iowa.)

Apparently a couple of young women who came to the "Joe" to hear Sen Obama were not permitted to sit behind the podium - the seats controlled at all events for the well-orchestrated photo backdrop.  These young women were wearing their headscarfs.  Perhaps there was concern that the political opposition would somehow use the visual to portray Sen Obama as a Muslim terrorist or sympathizer.

Certainly at a private event like the rally in Detroit, it is within the campaign's discretion to seat people as it wishes.  Was this the right thing to do? Is this like the lapel flag pin matter.. a distraction about appearances?   Or has the fear of the opposition gotten under our collective skin?

Feel free to express an opinion.

Fired UP!!

During a three day 1500 mile road trip to visit colleges, I decided to finally begin Barack's book. It has been beckoning me for many months. We are only a quarter of the way through, but I cannot recommend it highly enough. Not only is Barack's story riveting but he is a superb writer. Reading it out loud to my 17 and 19 year olds, both voracious readers in their own right, has been an enormous gift to us all. Now....to just find the time to sit and finish reading it aloud. One may well never be too old for a bedtime story.

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.

Today will be the day they lay the great Tim Russert to rest.  He was such a gracious man.

He didn't want to go on the air at first they say.  He was Vice President of NBC News an considered himself an administrator, not a journalist.

I think what I will miss most about him was ability to be a moderator not by a list of rules set in stone, or copied from some other media guidebook.  He just knew how to listen.

He also knew that freedom of speech was everything.  He didn't quibble with semantics.  However, he politely was able to get the answers he wanted by sticking to his own rules and not expecting his guests to do anything more than try their best to be prepared for his show.

As a moderator he was always fair and let everybody speak their peace.

He used editors to clean up mispeaks, rough spots or lengthy conversations.  He didn't expect his guests to edit themselves.

I am a moderator here on MYBO, but I am no Tim Russert. There is such a fine line between being a moderator or becoming a censor.  Tim Russert knew that. I am not perfect, nor do I expect the members of my group to be perfect.  But Tim Russert was the ultimate moderator.

He was also the ultimate father, son and husband and so many other things.  There is no replacement for him.

"So, goodbye my friend, I know we'll never see you again, but the love you gave us throughout the years will take away these tears.  I'm ok now goodbye my friend.

You can go now.

Goodbye my friend."

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.

As stated on the front page of the Obama.com website today, the Obama campaign just launched a new website, FightTheSmears.com . At this site, you can not only find information that thoroughly debunks smears and false rumors -- you can take action now and spread the truth with your friends and contacts. Let's keep up the momentum and remember how many people still believe so many falsities and it is up to each of us to help get them the real facts. Education is key.

We came a long way in New Hampshire last January. Now it's time to go back and finish the job! Obama Organizing Fellows hit the ground in Manchester this coming Saturday, June 14th.  Here's Barack's inspiring message to all of us who are once again taking up this fight.

"We have to win. We have to win because if we screw this up, all those people I met who need help, they're not gonna get help. And those of you who are concerned about global warming, I don't care what John McCain says, he is not going to push that agenda hard. All of those concerned about Darfur, I guarantee you they're not going to spend any political capital on that. Those of you who are concerned about education, there will be a bunch of lip service and then more of the same. Those of you concerned about making sure there's a sense of fairness in our economy, it will be less fair.

"Now everybody's counting on you - not just me. And I know that's a heavy weight, but also what a magnificent position to find yourself in, where the whole country is counting on you to change it for the better. Those moments don't come around very often, and here you are, five months away from having transformed the country and made history and changed the world. So we gotta seize it. So rest up a little bit, but come back ready to go ... AND fired up. All right, I gotta go, cheers guys, I love you, let's go win the election."

 May 26 Poll

1.  Are there enough women in key posts, or could we do a little better?   A lot better?

2.  #44 recently spoke of restoring a position from the Clinton administration, a Sec/State for the Western Hemisphere.   I happened to be getting a hug (oh, happy day) from Bill Richardson right after I heard Obama's speech, so it was not a big leap to think how ideal a candidate Richardson would be for this new/restored position. Anyone have any history on this position?

3.   Since I'm new to the group, Barack's Vice President & Cabinet , how do I vote in a poll?   Do I have to vote on every position( CPSC,EQ,EPA,NOAA) to vote on any?  I am not informed enough to submit a name in every position!

4.   Off-topic.  Speaking of voting.  Americans born in Florida, New York, or Vermont, cannot vote in US elections if they move to Puerto Rico.   Any lawyers in the house?   I understand this arrangement is 100 years old, &  there is money involved, but how is this constitutional?