After his sweeping, historic win in last year's election, President Obama promised to be a bridge builder, not a partisan bomb thrower. And he has kept his word. He has Republicans in his administration, and, early in his term, he met with Congressional Republicans to hear their views and ideas. This approach has endeared him to moderate, independent voters who believe in President Obama's strategy: to continue to woo the the small business owner in California and union member in Connecticut who likely supported him, while aggressively reaching out to the evangelical farmer in Montana and supply-side economist in Mississippi who probably didn't.
Yet, on more than one occasion, he's had to shake off the haters. Conservative talk show host Tammy Bruce referred to the Obamas as "trash in the White House"; a Republican Los Alamitos Mayor quits after sending a racist e-mail showing watermelons on the White House Lawn"; and last but not least, Rush Limbaugh insults the President literally every day with his racially irresponsible rants. Interestingly, by not responding to these slights and staying on message with the economy and his agenda, it keeps his poll numbers up sky high, which gives him enormous political capital to pursue health care legislation and other matters. To the average engaged voter, President Obama looks busy, and his detractors look, well, petty and feeble-minded. Who knew that all of this hate would have a reverse effect for Republican officials and give unintended support to President Obama?
So as the hate continues to be directed at him and his family, President Obama presses on and finds a way to make the purveyors of that hate look even more foolish. Watching our president shake off the haters has become thoroughly enjoyable.
2morrowknight is an internet strategist and community organizer who blogs at 2morrowknight.blogspot.com, and is author of a forthcoming children's book. You can follow him at Twitter.com/2morrowknight and friend him at Myspace.com/2morrowknight.
I feel for ya, JimBO!
Ron Paul on DL Hughley, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uQBUQBIFkc.
Dealing with the hegemonous haters, "Live Your Life," http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOFDaB1Sh20.
TTYL!
EMK
It ain't over until we've won the hearts and minds of a greater number of the haters such as those passing around emails like the following:
Family members of people killed on September 11, 2001, and in other terror attacks say they are outraged by President Obama's draft order calling for the suspension of war crimes trials of prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay. "To me it's beyond comprehension that they would take the side of the terrorists," said Peter Gadiel, whose son, James, was killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. "Many of these people have been released and been right back killing, right back at their terrorist work again." Obama's request on the first full day of his presidency came as a draft order was being prepared ordering the closing of the Guantanamo prison within a year. A judge responded by halting the case against a Canadian detainee accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan, issuing a 120-day continuance in the case. Click here for photos. "I see no reason why we should delay these proceedings. Let justice be served," said Jefferson Crowther, whose 24-year-old son, Welles, was killed in the Twin Towers after he saved the lives of several others. Critics blasted Obama's decision, which they said would delay justice in cases that have already been waiting for the better part of a decade. "There is no need to suspend [the military tribunals]. There is no reason why [Obama] can't conduct a concurrent review at the same time that the military commission process is moving forward to render justice for the terrorists that have murdered thousands of people," said former Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, who lost 17 sailors during a suicide bombing attack on the USS Cole in 2000. A suspect in the case is being held at Guantanamo. "It demeans their deaths because we seem to be more concerned with the rights of detainees than we are with the justice that is being denied to my sailors that were killed," Lippold told FOXNews.com. Obama's request may mark the end of the system used by the Bush administration to try terror suspects. War crimes charges against 21 men are pending at Guantanamo, though the detainees may have to be moved to America or extradited, depending on the administration's plans for them. The Obama administration is calling for a systematic review of each detainee's case to determine who can be released and who cannot. "It is in the interests of the United States to review whether and how such individuals can and should be prosecuted," says the draft order released on Wednesday. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said he would take the detainees in his own district, which lies just a few miles from the field near Shanksville, Pa., where United Flight 93 crashed after it was hijacked by terrorists on Sept.11, killing all 44 people aboard. "Sure, I'd take them. They're no more dangerous in my district than in Guantanamo," Murtha said, calling the Guantanamo prison a "sore in the United States' moral standards." "There's no reason not to put them in prisons in the United States and handle them the way they would handle any other prisoners." But some 9/11 families said they were concerned that if the trials were moved to criminal courts in the U.S., the proceedings would put civilians at risk. "The safest place to have these trials is Guantanamo Bay. If they were to move to the homeland it would endanger all of us," said Lorraine Arias Believeau of New Jersey, whose brother, Adam, was killed on 9/11. But human rights groups welcomed the president's draft order, calling it an important first step for his administration. "It is a major positive step in the right direction," said Jamil Dakwar, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union who observed pretrial hearings at Guantanamo this week. If transferred to U.S. courts, some of the detainees might be freed because of the aggressive interrogation techniques used against them. Mohammed al-Qahtani, the alleged "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 plot, was interrogated so severely at Guantanamo Bay that Bush administration officials said he was tortured and did not refer his case for prosecution. Some of the accused terrorists, meanwhile, were impatient to have their trials proceed. "We should continue so we don't go backward, we go forward," Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks told the judge in their case. He is among five detainees accused in the attacks who have asked to be given the death penalty, believing they will become martyrs if they are executed. Lippold, who helped determine detainee policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a strategic planner, said he feels he has a large investment "in making sure that these guys do not return to the fight, that they do not kill again." He said moving the cases to civilian courts was primarily a political act and could make it difficult to proceed with cases without compromising vital intelligence sources and methods. "The whole issue of detainees has become so politically charged that people forget that Americans lives are at stake," he told FOXNews.com. Crowther, a volunteer fireman for decades, said he does not care where the trials take place, but he wants to see more action from his government. "I'm constantly doing my part -- I want my government to do its part for me.I want those people who participated in my son's death and the death of some 3,000 others, I want to see them punished, if found guilty, in a court of law," he said. If the cases don't go to trial, Crowther said, "many, many families are going to be very upset." The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Family members of people killed on September 11, 2001, and in other terror attacks say they are outraged by President Obama's draft order calling for the suspension of war crimes trials of prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay.
"To me it's beyond comprehension that they would take the side of the terrorists," said Peter Gadiel, whose son, James, was killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. "Many of these people have been released and been right back killing, right back at their terrorist work again."
Obama's request on the first full day of his presidency came as a draft order was being prepared ordering the closing of the Guantanamo prison within a year. A judge responded by halting the case against a Canadian detainee accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan, issuing a 120-day continuance in the case.
Click here for photos.
"I see no reason why we should delay these proceedings. Let justice be served," said Jefferson Crowther, whose 24-year-old son, Welles, was killed in the Twin Towers after he saved the lives of several others.
Critics blasted Obama's decision, which they said would delay justice in cases that have already been waiting for the better part of a decade.
"There is no need to suspend [the military tribunals]. There is no reason why [Obama] can't conduct a concurrent review at the same time that the military commission process is moving forward to render justice for the terrorists that have murdered thousands of people," said former Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, who lost 17 sailors during a suicide bombing attack on the USS Cole in 2000. A suspect in the case is being held at Guantanamo.
"It demeans their deaths because we seem to be more concerned with the rights of detainees than we are with the justice that is being denied to my sailors that were killed," Lippold told FOXNews.com.
Obama's request may mark the end of the system used by the Bush administration to try terror suspects. War crimes charges against 21 men are pending at Guantanamo, though the detainees may have to be moved to America or extradited, depending on the administration's plans for them.
The Obama administration is calling for a systematic review of each detainee's case to determine who can be released and who cannot. "It is in the interests of the United States to review whether and how such individuals can and should be prosecuted," says the draft order released on Wednesday.
Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said he would take the detainees in his own district, which lies just a few miles from the field near Shanksville, Pa., where United Flight 93 crashed after it was hijacked by terrorists on Sept.
11, killing all 44 people aboard.
"Sure, I'd take them. They're no more dangerous in my district than in Guantanamo," Murtha said, calling the Guantanamo prison a "sore in the United States' moral standards."
"There's no reason not to put them in prisons in the United States and handle them the way they would handle any other prisoners."
But some 9/11 families said they were concerned that if the trials were moved to criminal courts in the U.S., the proceedings would put civilians at risk.
"The safest place to have these trials is Guantanamo Bay. If they were to move to the homeland it would endanger all of us," said Lorraine Arias Believeau of New Jersey, whose brother, Adam, was killed on 9/11.
But human rights groups welcomed the president's draft order, calling it an important first step for his administration.
"It is a major positive step in the right direction," said Jamil Dakwar, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union who observed pretrial hearings at Guantanamo this week.
If transferred to U.S. courts, some of the detainees might be freed because of the aggressive interrogation techniques used against them. Mohammed al-Qahtani, the alleged "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 plot, was interrogated so severely at Guantanamo Bay that Bush administration officials said he was tortured and did not refer his case for prosecution.
Some of the accused terrorists, meanwhile, were impatient to have their trials proceed.
"We should continue so we don't go backward, we go forward," Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks told the judge in their case. He is among five detainees accused in the attacks who have asked to be given the death penalty, believing they will become martyrs if they are executed.
Lippold, who helped determine detainee policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a strategic planner, said he feels he has a large investment "in making sure that these guys do not return to the fight, that they do not kill again."
He said moving the cases to civilian courts was primarily a political act and could make it difficult to proceed with cases without compromising vital intelligence sources and methods.
"The whole issue of detainees has become so politically charged that people forget that Americans lives are at stake," he told FOXNews.com.
Crowther, a volunteer fireman for decades, said he does not care where the trials take place, but he wants to see more action from his government.
"I'm constantly doing my part -- I want my government to do its part for me.
I want those people who participated in my son's death and the death of some 3,000 others, I want to see them punished, if found guilty, in a court of law," he said.
If the cases don't go to trial, Crowther said, "many, many families are going to be very upset."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Henry M
KCUF, Still the Most Eclectic Music on the WWW, Now at 128 Kb/s on Shoutcast Unlimited: http://tinyurl.com/kcuf-on-shoutcast-limited to play and http://www.urdomain.us/kcuf.htm to see what's playing
Well, I think [health care] should be a right for every American. In a country as wealthy as ours, for us to have people who are going bankrupt because they can't pay their medical bills -- for my mother to die of cancer at the age of 53 and have to spend the last months of her life in the hospital room arguing with insurance companies because they're saying that this may be a pre-existing condition and they don't have to pay her treatment--there's something fundamentally wrong about that.
Change
Forty-seven years ago, President John F. Kennedy said, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Well, that was 47 years ago! Times have changed. America’s economy has changed from stable to be unstable.
It is time the words of our late President reflect the change urgency of now. I have revised the quote to reflect the changing times we live. It now reads:
Ask not what you can do for your country.
Ask your country what can it do for you?
America has changed from stable to hope
We need Congress to change
We need the Senate to change
We need the house on Capital Hill to change
Americas’ leaders must acknowledge that our nation has changed and does not reflect the vision of the real change America deserves.
We must take action to change the wrong we live today, right.
This is not the change Roosevelt imagined!
This is not the change JFK imagined!
This is not the change Martin Luther King imagined!
This is not the change my grandfather, grandmother, mother, father, brother, sister, friend, and neighbor imagined!
This is not how I imagined change!
Martin Luther King, President Roosevelt, and Kennedy were great men all on the trails of great paths, and something went wrong, because they were all righteous men. I don’t think all of those people could have been wrong. And what you are thinking is right, they were not wrong!
What is wrong is the failed change of the Bush Presidency!
We are living the wrong change with the wrong leaders!
We are living for helping the rich change!
We are living for corrupt companies and unrighteous Ceo’s to live their change
We are living for change supporting a failed and squalling Presidency of a shameful George Bush, an administration that proud his change that destroyed the real change America deserves.
We are living a fail Bush Presidency that destroyed the changes and legacy of these great men! This was an awful pursuit, and embarrassment for America. What an awful change. What an ungrateful George Bush!
It is time for all that to change. It is time we lead Americans to live the change America deserves.
To start we will elect a righteous leader to lead our country in the right direction. It is time to elect a leader who believes in family values and principles. It is time to live the change you believe you want to live.
It is time to change America!
It is time to change.
Change!
America needs change more than ever!
And the leader that will help change America is Barack Obama!
He has proved his success as a United States Senator and he has called upon the wisdom of Joe Biden to help him address America’s problems. Together they will guide America and will help us achieve the real change Martin L. King envisioned.
They will help us achieve the real change President Roosevelt envisioned!
They will help us achieve the real change JFK envisioned!
But they cannot do it alone. Believe me, when I say your vote is needed to support the change we want, and the change we need to rebuild this country.
I am hearing people say: what about the smoker’s right? What about the non-smokers rights? What about the green party’s rights, what about the Republicans rights? What about the rights of democrats. We all have rights. That is not what it means to vote my fellow Americans.
Voting is not an instrument to justify personal habits and personal needs and addictions we inflict upon ourselves. Voting is for mature citizens of our great country. It is your mature, righteous vote that will determine the results of one nations effort to unite justice for all Americans. Just as the late, President Kennedy said: In your hands, my fellow citizen, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course.
On November 4, 2008, All Americans will be summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty! Your vote is more than just an action to elect our next President of the United States. It is packaged like the seed of the great Sequoia plus more. The moment you cast your vote, the package will sprout, root and grow, to change the course of your history, and will forever, exist, counted.
The change we seek will require all neighbors to join Democratic Party to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. Like Kennedy, Obama personifies humility, and the righteousness of a great leader. He has demonstrated he will not negotiate out of fear, and will not fear to negotiate for the change we need.
Martin Luther King reminded America of the fierce urgency of now, so I remind you. Now is the time to make real promises of democracy! Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice! Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children. Now is the time for change! It is your time, with your hands to vote for Barack Obama!
We should not allow racism to lead us to distrust of all people. The change we seek is self-evidence that all our presence here today gives proof we have come to realize that our destiny is their destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom
Now our dreams are their dreams!
Our hopes are their hopes!
This is the vision of the Martin Luther King I know!
This is Americas dream!
America is a great nation.
The change we seek will come true!
We will all sing the words of the great Martin Luther king!
Let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire!
Let freedom ring from the land of Lincoln
Let freedom ring from Minnesota
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we all allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men, and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free to change!
I know this will be true for all Americans.
A few weeks ago, I was twigged between two stones. On my right a heavy stone sinking with a sadly call from the voice of my mother, asking me to persuade the white police office from harassing my sister, and the office claiming there was a warrant out for her arrest. The calls kept coming only this time with a shrieking voice of my mother just two hours before mid night, telling me a prejudice principle that was in charge of an elementary school which my niece attended called her home while the kids were sound a sleep.
She said the principle told her my niece of age eleven threatens to bring a gun to school to harm other students. My mother knew this could not be true because my mother does not own a gun and my niece has never seen a weapon that would deliver such a destruction. A third call, all with in one week after moving to Lino Lakes Minnesota. My mother’s voice filled with no hope tells me that my younger brother was pulled over by the police, they suspended his license.
Now it is very difficult for him to get to work. Public transportation does not operate hours convenient for him.
Later that week I found out, they were subjects of authorities loyal to racism, born of darkness, haters of right, relentless haters in their efforts to destroy a changing America.
On the other side swells a stone so great, breathing is complicated for me, because on this side presses against me calls from every direction of our nation, Americans calling upon me to fight for their Civil Liberties, Black, White, Latino, Italian, Russian, Polish, and so on and on, and on. The cries are endless. I feel mangled, broken, torn.
I felt it would be easier for me to die than to decide. I could only think about how many sons and daughter are challenged with similar decisions. I thought, God, why have you given me these burdens. What have I not done to please you? I thought; Lord, you can’t be serious to expect me to challenge this path of anger, prejudice, hateful taunts, and Civil Liberties of an entire nation.
The burdens were so heavy I fell asleep just thinking about it. When I woke up, I called the school and the words just flowed. Then I realized while I was asleep the lord made his words mine. He made the most difficult decision of my life courage! I realized what just happened. I was changed. Now I believe change is the will of God. And that was all the courage I needed. That is all the courage you need to vote righteously. Pray to your God and he will inspire you to make the right choice.
Meanwhile, find your way to www.obama.com. Explore the wealth of information to learn more than you need to know about your candidate Barack Obama and the hopeful new vice President Joe Biden. Learn about them as much as you can, just as I have done. You will learn just as I have learned, their voices are real and their actions are inspiring.
Their will is Gods’ will. They seek change for righteousness to rain upon all of Gods’ children. They have summoned God Almighty to share the wealth with all of Gods’ children and not just a few. Their prayers are righteous prayers.
Although I have never met Obama, he is my mentor, my inspiration, and my political advisor. Obama is real to me. He will be forever welcomed in my home. He is my friend; he is my brother’s keeper.
Thank you Barack for awakening my sleep. Thank you for motivating me to respond to Gods voice. For he has inspired me to help you, help America live the right change.
Sincerely,
Marcail Parker
Gocachi LLC
Well as we saw today,there were a small group of childish fools in the crowd today at the Bank United Center in Coral Gables, Florida.Please,are they really serious?They were obviously $paid$,so were the ones before.Trick tactics once again,trying to stir up false talk and hope that the uneducated will somehow fall into the trap.It's plain to see.
Come on,one sign said-"Blacks against Obama"they wish,that's just plain ole'funny!!! Oh yeah and the KKK.That's the best they can do.Hey yall,I guess we are doing pretty damn good for those little leprechauns to pull one like that!They are doing so bad,they have to go and create an illusion,wow!
Next their going to pull a rabbit out of Sarah Palin's ---!Really folks,I wouldn't be surprised!!!We are not falling for that BS!I don't think many will.(Cheap shots,games & kiddie play,they will definitly be the ensnared ones in their own plot,and that is a guarantee!) Just you wait and see,mark my words!That my friends ,is exciting!
*(BARACK OBAMA & JOE BIDEN 2008)*
in response to Stanley Fish's most recent "Think Again" column in the New York Times, about the "irrational hatred" of Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Fish,
You seem to have constructed a "damned if you do/damned if you don't" scenario for those of us who genuinely feel that Hillary Clinton is not a good choice for president, or even for the Democratic nomination...
