With the advent of ACA aka Obamacare, many Americans are signing up for it online--or trying to. As a result, ACA has gained a new nickname: 404Care.
Meanwhile, as the government shutdown proceeds apace, WWII Honor Flight veterans--no fools they--defy the DC Park Police and ignore it. And the Park Police, apparently being no fools themselves, let them.
Thank You:
To Rusty at The Jawa Report for assisting in my project-funding!
UPDATE: Okay, I'm still shamelessly stealing from Ace, but this is just too perfect...especially considering my headline:
It’s just like conservatives always warned — ObamaCare is too popular and it’s overloading the servers.
I know there are a lot of folks--Republicans and Democrats--who didn't like Clint Eastwood's address to the Republican National Convention. Let's take a look.
I admit that Clint was kinda all over the place. Whether the teleprompter died or he just abandoned script, the address was not Clint at his best. It might not have been Clint at his worst, though.
Check out the sneering annoyed reaction from MSNBC's lead tedium-dispenser Rachel Maddow.
Even though Clint wasn't really on point, his mockery of President Obama was by and large effective. The bit about Bamster getting a smaller plane was great. Clint's conversation with an empty chair underscored just how vacuous our Great Dingy Captain really is. More importantly, most liberal media viewers--to say nothing of the Obama Cult Stenographers--had never seen anything like that.
The Barry-Lover press corps have basically cocooned themselves in liberalism's cozy blanket of comedic ignorance. They've never watched Red Eye. Their web browsers have never clicked on Iowahawk, Manhattan Infidel or Jim Treacher. The only time they hear an Obama joke is when Jon Stewart forgets to take out his tampon and cajoles Saint Obambi for being too damn nice to the evil reich-wing Rethuglicans. Because the lamestream media all runs on the same premise--Our President Is Not To Be Touched--Clint Eastwood's barbs might've been the first time the socialist media have seen someone make fun of Barack Obama in any sort of sustained way.
Everybody's second-favorite community organizer Saul Alinksy said that ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It works so well because it rallies your troops. Even better, when a well-played joke lands squarely on target, it causes problems for the other side. Look at how the Stalinists were so discombobulated by Clint's mockery of their Saviour. When they went into Panic Alert Obama Defense Level Five, they spent a lot of time addressing Clint's speech rather than dealing with Mitt Romney.
If that was the only thing Eastwood's speech accomplished, it would've been enough. But it did more than that. Clint's mockery of Obama was probably a hit with many undecided citizens. These are low-information voters who don't pay attention to politics on a day-to-day level. A lot of people who watch the conventions get their first look at the presidential candidates and their parties from these events.
What did these more or less apolitical folks see? They saw a Hollywood icon laughing at the President. Here too, this might be the first instance that they've watched a media figure of this magnitude actually make fun of Barack Obama.
I'm not saying undecided voters are going to make their decision to vote for Mitt Romney based on Clint Eastwood talking greasy about Barack Obama. What is happening is that Clint's derision of the President sends a subtle signal: "Obama is a joke and it's okay for you to laugh at him."
Remember that the lamestream media has all but completely embargoed humor at Premier Barry's expense. Yet here comes Clint Eastwood on an international stage to cut Barack Obama down a few notches. CNN, MSNBC, CBS and ABC couldn't simply disappear Clint down the memory hole like they did to Artur Davis, Mia Love or Brian Sandoval. They had to cover it. Once they did, it opened up Barack Obama to the kind of mockery they've never allowed to hit him before.
That's why the leftist media hacks fudged their Depends over Clint. Even though he wasn't as strong as he could be, Eastwood's jokes will turn more than a few undecided voters. Clint's speech also breaks the humor blockade that many people have when it comes to mocking Obama. After last night, St. Barack is no longer a holy messiah figure above criticism from his petty subjects. He can, in fact, be mocked.
And, as it turns out, there is a lot to laugh at when it comes to Barack Obama.
Funny how it took an 82-year-old Clint Eastwood--a little sloppy, a little doddering, but still strong--to point that out to the rest of America.
BONUS: Here are 170 great Clint Eastwood quotes. Not safe for work; very safe for awesomeness.
"I-i-i-i-dio-"
"Idiots. It's for you."
That's the line Clint should've dropped on Obama's head.
Oh well. Eastwood still rules.
EVEN MORE BONUSEY: Da Tech Guy's post on the Clint speech fleshes out a point I was trying...and I think failing...to make.
Take a look at this image from Memeorandum as of 8:31 AM
And here is the stuff on the Romney speech same page:
What is Missing? Attacks on Romney’s speech!Today was the day that the Democrats should be hitting Romney’s speech and trying to counter it a-la Ryan. Instead the readers of the morning papers, cable TV and the left blogs are reading attacks on Eastwood. Clint Eastwood is playing the same role as a hero in an old western, drawing all the fire so the good guy could escape unharmed.
While the lamestreamers are scratching their heads and angrily snarling at Eastwood, Mitt Romney comes off looking presidential with little pushback from the progs.
In 2016, the GOP should have Chuck Norris karate-chopping an imaginary Joe Biden while dressed like Lady Gaga right before President Romney gives his speech.
Predictably, Hamas fumes at the killing rocking of Osama bin Laden's casbah.
"We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood," Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, told reporters.
Though he noted doctrinal differences between bin Laden's al Qaeda and Hamas, Haniyeh said: "We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior. We ask God to offer him mercy with the true believers and the martyrs."
Wait a minute! I thought that it was the goal of every Muslim to kill a bunch of infidels in life and be taken down by them in death. Why doesn't Hamas realize that the United States military did Osama a favor, according to their own beliefs?
Since I stopped watching TV in the morning, I tend to miss fun stuff like watching Fox and Friends morning host Gretchen Carlson make White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs look foolish--something that requires no effort really. Enjoy.
It's curious that President Obama's two most public representatives, Gibbs and Vice President Joseph Biden, seem so--how to put this gently--dim. Gibbs' mental deficiencies are particularly vexing (and, ironically, funny) because they are joined with sneering condescension in the same small space. He thinks he's smarter than anyone interviewing him and he unfailingly attempts to prove it--to show that interviewer who his/her intellectual better is.
But every time Gibbs tries this, he ends up looking all the dimmer for it. Who didn't know that Carlson was going to put Gibbs in his place when he attempted to interview her? (And don't you just love trying to have a conversation with a person who throws up the "playing games" smoke screen when they are trying to avoid answering a question honestly?)
I feel sorry for Robert Gibbs; but if I had to interview the guy, it's probable that my sympathy level would be much lower. Look at the expression on Carlson's face! Not a drop of sympathy for the learning disabled.
I've been having my hair cut/head shaved every two weeks for about twenty years now. However, every so often I decide to let my hair grow just for grins. Three weeks ago, I made that decision yet again and I have a very tiny TWA. (Short-and-curly has a different connotation to me than it does to most other people.) This time, however, something was different.
Yesterday, I was hand-washing dishes in my great-aunt's kitchen. The house is old-school, almost eighty years in existence. (We've even had to add electrical outlets because it was built when electricity was as new and rickety as iPhones are now.) Anyway, over the sink are a medicine chest with a mirror and a light which shines down on the head of whomever is standing at the sink. As I washed dishes, I happened to look at my new growth of hair and guess what!
There is a whole frickin' lot of salt in my used-to-be unadulterated pepper.
Happy "Cinco de Cuatro," to quote our most erudite, international president ever!
The fact that the president demonstrated, before the world, his lack of comprehension of the basic Spanish which many of us non-Spanish speakers learn as children reminds me of this:
It’s embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe and all we can say is merci beaucoup.
--Citizen Obama
Comparing those two incidents gives me hope; real hope for real change.
PROUDLY ILLITERATE: President Obama give a "pat on the head" (as Allahpundit so bitingly puts it) to "Los Suns." Who's the embarrassment now?
The long-simmering family feud between the Congressional Black Caucus
and the first African-American president burst into the open on
Wednesday, with members boycotting a financial overhaul vote as a
warning shot at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
From what I can tell, members of the Race Baiters Caucus are angry that the Race Baiter in Chief is neither kowtowing to them nor cutting them a sufficiently large enough piece of the action known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
So what else is the CBC thinking of doing to "force" the Obama Administration to see reason?
[My Congressional Representative Maxine] Waters suggested the CBC’s 43 members could vote with the GOP to
scuttle a variety of Democratic bills if Obama and [White House Chief of Staff Rahm] Emanuel don’t
address what she thinks is a lack of understanding of the CBC’s
wide-ranging goals of reducing urban unemployment, home foreclosures
and bank failures.
Fools negotiating foolishly from a position of weakness--though I'm sure that the Republicans will take it. But it's hilarious that the Hope and Change Express Bus won't even slow down for those who were and are its main source of fuel. Thus is it always with Leftists.
[T]here are more images posted on Michaele Salahi's facebook fan page
, including photo opportunities at the Congressional Black Caucus
Foundation's Awards Dinner four weeks prior to the State Dinner. Photos
show the couple among the likes of Senator Roland Burris and his wife,
Patrick Kennedy, and Star Jones. President and Mrs. Obama were also in
attendance.
According to Congressional Black Caucus Foundation
representatives, Michaele and Tareq Salahi crashed the September 26th
dinner, and were caught sitting at someone's tables.
Oh sure they got tossed out on their cans--and rightly so. But I can't help but smile when somebody takes the time and effort annoy the Democrat Race-Baiting Victocrat™Caucus HORs.
(Via Drudge)
UPDATE: At the end of the article...
Since President Obama attended and spoke at the
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Awards Dinner, the Secret Service was
very much involved. But unlike the White House State Dinner, most of the 4,000
foundation guests didn't have access to the President, and as a result the
security bubble for President Obama was much smaller.
But shouldn't the Salahis' names and faces have been on a Secret Service list somewhere? A list similar to and much shorter than the no-fly list which commercial airliners are purported to have? One would think that a pair who once bogarted their way into an event in which the POTUS will be present would bear watching thereafter. One would think.
By the way, I'll be busy again today. And as I've found out, when you leave your comment section un-moderated, some people can't resist taking advantage, so the comments are held. That means that I will allow them to post when I return to the computer.
Comment moderation is like locking your door when you're away from home to keep out those who would move into your house and take advantage. Don't think so? Check out the outrage displayed by a couple of...guests when they discovered that their nasty comments wouldn't post when they wanted them to. It's instructive of a larger mindset--let's call it a "redistributive" mindset.
All Moonbattery is screeching in protest and in...something else.
Can you smell that? I can. There's not enough Right Guard in the world to hide it.
I can't even begin to put down all of the unhinged vitriol that John McCain's choice of running mate has provoked in the hard doctrinaire right-to-death Leftists. And, fortunately for me, I don't have to since Jeff Goldstein has done it. Who knew that the prospect of a normal, principled woman politician with a normal family becoming vice president could arouse such fear? And the two things about Governor Sarah Palin which seem to bring out the most foaming at the mouth? Her physical attractiveness and the fact that she chose not to abort her youngest son--she knew that the baby had Down Syndrome long before he was born.
Leftists say that a woman has the choice to decide whether to allow her baby to be born and tell us that looks don't matter. Well I'm guessing that they forgot to add a couple of standard caveats: their axioms only apply to ugly Democrat women who make the "correct" choice. (Actually that last part is sort of incorrect; to Leftists, any choice made by a Republican is a wrong choice regardless of whether that choice coincides with Left ideology or not.)
I just may vote in November.
AN EVEN BETTER INDICATION: One thing that I haven't seen mentioned: won't it be great to see how much the Islamists just hate Palin? It certainly wouldn't be the first time that the Jihadists and the moonbats had an identical opinion.
Speaking of philanthropy, Georgians haven't lost their sense of humor, it seems. In response to Russian looters, Tbilisi residents set up a fine display of modern art and world-class snark in front of the city's Russian embassy (click photos to get larger versions).
To the Russian embassy in Tbilisi they brought old refrigerators, toilets, rolls of toilet paper, irons, bottles of vodka, forks and spoons, clothes and other objects that [looters from the Russian army] took interest in during their visits to private houses of Georgians, state institutions, military bases and army barracks.
People are coming up to have a closer look, shake their heads, laugh. Cars that are passing by are honking...
George Bush had his three-fingered W salute that supporters flashed when greeting him at presidential campaign events in 2000. And now, if a Los Angeles creative agency gets its way, Sen. Barack Obama will see fans meet him with his own salute like the one above. "Our goal is to see a crowd of 75,000 people at Obama's nomination speech holding their hands above their heads, fingers laced together in support of a new direction for this country, a renewed hope, and acceptance of responsibility for our future," says Rick Husong, owner of The Loyalty Inc. Husong tells me that he got the idea after seeing the famous Obama-Progress poster by artist Shepherd Fairey. "We wanted to get involved some way," he says. So, the agency came up with their own a symbol of hope and progress that also plays off Obama's name. "We thought, 'Let's try and start a movement where even while walking down the street, people would hold up the O and you would know that they were for Obama,' " says Husong.
Can something be creepy and silly at the same time?
UPDATE: Here's a Way to Eden video. Someone over a Ace's notices that the Star Trek aliens in the episode have...um...ear issues similar to the good senator under discussion.
"Look at what happened in the last two years since Senator Obama visited and declared the war lost," the GOP nominee-in-waiting told The Associated Press in an interview, noting that the Illinois senator's last trip to Iraq came before the military buildup that is credited with curbing violence.
"He really has no experience or knowledge or judgment about the issue of Iraq and he has wanted to surrender for a long time," the Arizona senator added. "If there was any other issue before the American people, and you hadn't had anything to do with it in a couple of years, I think the American people would judge that very harshly."
and then issues an invitation via Senator Lindsey Graham to accompany him on a trip to the country:
Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of McCain's top surrogates, laid the groundwork for McCain's criticism in a television interview in which he noted Obama's absence from Iraq and floated the idea that Obama and McCain should go together to be briefed by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Short-sightedly, Obama declines with a verbal rebuke of his own via spokesman Bill Burton:
Senator Obama thinks Memorial Day is a day to honor our nation's veterans, not a day for political posturing.
But after catching deserved rhetorical flak for that response, Obama "considers" making a second trip to Iraq. Confederate Yankee Bob Owens is scornful:
Burton suggests that while Obama is willing to meet rogue terrorist-sponsoring regimes without preconditions, he will not meet with America’s allies or American soldiers to talk of current developments. Instead he will doggedly stick to a defeatist stance hardened years ago, and immune to change.
Yes, but Obama shouldn't be afraid to change his mind about Iraq. He changes his mind about everything else and his apostlesacolytesfollowers supporters are just as adoring steadfast as ever. They're even immune to the fact that Hillary Clinton appears to have more cojones in this area than their savior does.
Don't be afraid, Senator. Go to Iraq, have your mind changed--or rather, appear to be changed--declare victory and don't worry. Your Jedi Mind Trick abilities are strong and your apostlesacolytesfollowers supporters will never remember that the were against the war before they were for it. The incandescence of your magnanimity and courage will be a beacon for those who are prone to it! /purple prose
Think his advisers will get him to do this? Neither do I. After all they still haven't changed his web site declaration that he's "the only major candidate who supports tough, direct presidential diplomacy with Iran without preconditions." And he certainly won't do anything autonomously.
In the comments to Hot Air's post on the Vets for Freedom ad, Major John Tammes, writing from Iraq, has this to say about Senator Obama:
I would settle for getting my constituent e-mails answered… As much as I dislike Durbin, at least I get a response when I email him. Sheesh.
However, it appears that the junior senator from Illinois does answer some of his mail, especially from those who are having problems getting along with their neighbors. Like this poor soul:
Dear Barry:
I try to get along with the people in my neighborhood, but sometimes it can be difficult. Take for example my neighbor "Mahmoud." Last weekend while I was seeding my lawn, he drove back and forth slowly in front of my house "flipping the bird" from his minivan, which is painted with pictures of bloody corpses and mushroom clouds and "welcome 12th Imam." Normally I wouldn't have given it a second thought (I get "fingered" by a lot of the neighbors), but lately I've noticed he has been working on some kind of secret project in his garage with really stinky chemicals.
And, of course, Iowahawk manages to uncover the senator's sage answer. Sage, I tells ya.
With the swearing in of the new Cabinet – as [Kenya's Daily Nation] put it – the Kibaki-Odinga unity “...appeared apparent...” I was girding my loins to attack it immediately on the spot, but other more urgent issues came up.
In addition, moreover, it happened to occur to my mind that, perhaps maybe, I duly owed the writer some more thoughtful consideration. It was probably likely that, if I tried to make an effort to enter the young juvenile’s mind, I might understand him adequately enough.
But it seems evident that repeated reiteration is an incorrigibly permanent feature of our newsrooms. It seems apparent that, as writers, our scribes simply cannot be able to see that appearances are not what they look like.
It's from my father's weekly grammar column, in which he sometimes injects politics, but is primarily used to lambaste instruct his colleagues in the art of wielding English: definitions, word usage and sentence construction. Redundancies are the topic today (yes, that statement may be redundant, but someone will ask). I don't doubt that I may have committed some of the same sorts of errors, but I still find this op-ed particularly funny.
My diplomatic abilities appear to be genetically acquired.
The politics:
The Kibaki-Odinga unity is a phenomenon of such material objects. Nobody else can see it exactly for what it is. For outsiders, it only appears or seems. Some think of it as mere make-believe. They do not accept it as a reality.
But the Nation reporter was two-minded about it. On the one hand, it was apparent because it was real.
But, on the other, its “apparentness” seemed like that of the will-o’-the-wisp – which was why it appeared apparent.
UPDATE: Once upon a time one member of the sixties equivalent of the Dixie Chicks tangled with Bill Cosby.
I was wondering whether the two were still alive. They are and are still touring. Interesting fact: their father, Major Thomas Smothers, Sr., was a West Point graduate who died as a POW while experiencing the tender mercies of the Japanese. :::shudder:::
It's interesting to speculate how differently they might have turned out had their father lived.
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption--Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding
UPDATE: Though "Red" was portrayed by the illustrious Morgan Freeman in the movie The Shawshank Redemption, reader Beryl informs me that King had originally written "the man who can get things" as an Irishman; Black version, no doubt.
Hollywood directors should qualify for disability insurance for having short-bus tendencies. Exhibit A: Spike Lee.
Director Spike Lee has waded into the ongoing controversy surrounding Jeremiah Wright, the Chicago pastor whose provocative statements have proved a thorn in the side of Democrat frontrunner Barack Obama. Lee advises the preacher to do the right thing and keep quiet. "The more he opens his mouth, the more damage he does," he told the Guardian yesterday.
For good measure, Lee hinted at a political conspiracy behind Wright's recent, contentious attempts to justify his remarks. "It looks like he's being paid to keep talking," he said. [SNIP]
"Jeremiah Wight needs to be quiet," Lee said yesterday. "If he loves Obama he needs to shut up right now. It makes me question his motives for talking. I'm starting to wonder whether somebody has been contributing to the building funds of his church. Seriously."
Yeah sure, Shelton (that’s the name that Lee’s mama gave him). That Jeremiah Wright is nothing but a tool of the Man—or, more appropriately, the Woman.
I guess that isn’t much of a surprise that Lee thinks that there’s some sort of collusion between Wright and the forces of "darkness.” (The forces of Darkness are another story.) Lee can’t comprehend that a man possessed by such narcissistic tendencies as Wright would be almost congenitally unable to remain quiet in subordination to the “greater good”--that is, getting Obama nominated and elected. To expect the right reverend not to sally forth without hesitation when Bill Moyers, the NAACP and the National Press Club came calling is like expecting rain not to be wet.
Our old friend Shelton, however, doesn’t get that. Maybe if he did, his movies would be better.
Ha Ha! We have a whine wine critic named Matthew DeBord critiquing General Petraeus for--get this--wearing all of his ribbons and badges! As if the wear of them were optional.
There he sits in elaborate Army regalia, four stars glistening on each shoulder, nine rows of colorful ribbons on his left breast, and various other medallions, brooches and patches scattered across the rest of the available real estate on his uniform. He even wears his name tag, a lone and incongruous hunk of cheap plastic in a region of pristine gilt, just in case the politicians aren't sure who he is.
That's a lot of martial bling, especially for an officer who hadn't seen combat until five years ago. Unfortunately, brazen preening and "ribbon creep" among the Army's modern-day upper crust have trumped the time-honored military virtues of humility, duty and personal reserve.
My Lord.
The official uniform of the Army is to be worn in a very specific manner, and the brass have an obligation to live up to their billing by showing plenty of ... well, brass. On the other hand, if you're wearing four stars, you surely have some say when it comes to matters of peacockery.
(All emphasis mine.)
There are a few things that I find more barf-inducing than some little pu--...er, yappy-dog male nipping at the heels of some Real Man over things that the former couldn't begin to understand, let alone discuss--but not many.
And the twit couldn't even be bothered to find out that wear of all military uniforms is strictly prescribed--from the lowest slick-sleeve to five-star generals--because he was just itching to find a reason to sniff at someone who made him feel...microscopic. And I mean microscopic in all senses.
Memo to anyone contemplating the purchase of one of Mr. DeBord's books on wine: They could not possibly be as breathtakingly stupid and mean as what you just read.
Jimbo:
Do the planet a favor Mr. DeBord and STFU about real men. Your attempt to portray Gen. Petraeus as a chickenhawk is the weakest of all arguments especially coming from someone who could only charitably be called even a girly man. Go back to your fern-filled loft and compare notes on the latest swill turned out by the grape-stompers. You need to leave the important business of who shall lead our country in war to those whose concept of it has progressed farther than fashion commentary about a man whose glass you are not fit to fill.
I lift my glass of Two-Buck Chuck to all Real Men out there--one especially. You know who you are.
I know to a guy like DeBord everything is about fashion and proper place settings but allow me to offer this pimple on the a** of humanity a bit of advice…when it comes to the men and women wearing their nation’s uniform, here are the only two words you really need…thank you.
A woman was dragged kicking, biting and screaming from a Hillary event last night in California. The secret service dragged the woman from the Wilshire Theater in Los Angeles after she started screaming that she was the only black person in the room.
"Not only did she attack another person at the event (she literally bit a woman, which drew blood and required bandages), she was screaming profanities and tried to urinate in the doorway to the theater!
That was no lady.
I have to start going to these Democrat gatherings--assuming anyone can attend.
UPDATE: Mitt Romney just called it a day. The CPAC attendees are PO'd, but not at Romney.
The problem? It's white women. I knew it all along. :-P
Lots of CPAC live-blogging: Captain’s Quarters, Hot Air, The Lovely Miss Attila. Both Mitt Romney and John McCain will address the conference. It’s live at C-SPAN. Romney's on right now.
Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) suggests that Berkeley, CA be denied federal earmark funds as a result of the Berkeley City Council’s decision to give USMC recruiters the boot. And, in response to the City Council’s attempt to intimidate the USMC by granting Code PINK a permit to protest in front of one of the recruiting stations (heh), Move America Forward will protest in front of the City Council on February 12th. Background here. (Thanks to Blackfive)
Borrowing a concept from the UK, Stephen A. Dubner solicits a six-word word motto for the USA. Lots of ‘Hate America First’ in the comments, mixed in relatively equally with some gems. Here’s one: “Could be worse: could be Mogadishu.” Here’s another: “Piss us off at your peril.” I think I’ll shop there for a new tag line when I get time. (Thanks to Hot Air)
The Great Identity Politics War is like the Mother of all Pile-ups; I just can't look away!
The latest salvo sees Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama cause New York's NOW chapter to flip out.
Women have just experienced the ultimate betrayal. Senator Kennedy’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton’s opponent in the Democratic presidential primary campaign has really hit women hard. Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, the Family Leave and Medical Act to name a few. Women have buried their anger that his support for the compromises in No Child Left Behind and the Medicare bogus drug benefit brought us the passage of these flawed bills. We have thanked him for his ardent support of many civil rights bills, BUT women are always waiting in the wings.
And now the greatest betrayal! We are repaid with his abandonment! He’s picked the new guy over us. [SNIP]
This latest move by Kennedy, is so telling about the status of and respect for women’s rights, women’s voices, women’s equality, women’s authority and our ability – indeed, our obligation - to promote and earn and deserve and elect, unabashedly, a President that is the first woman after centuries of men who “know what’s best for us.”
I suppose that the 70+% of black women who voted for Obama in the South Carolina primary aren't really women. Or perhaps black women are too stupid to figure out that Hillary Clinton has their best interest at heart while Obama couldn't possibly have that, being a tripod and all. And see how these tripods stick together?
Somewhere, Mary Jo Kopechne (pictured) is laughing uncontrollably.
Toni Morrison, author of Tar Baby and the black woman who dubbed Bill Clinton "the first black president," endorses Barack Obama for president. But if Bill Clinton was the "first black president," doesn't that make Hillary Clinton half-black just like Obama? (Think about it.) And if Obama wins would he be the second black president? So many questions in need of answering. (Not really.)
BTW, if I read just one more person asking the stupid question of why Obama is thought of as black when he has one white parent, I'm going to send that person a load of US History links...or perhaps I'll just ask them how they think all we millions of not-jet-black black Americans came out not-jet-black. (Hint: not through osmosis.)
Other that the Kenya post--set last night to automatically post early this morning--I wasn't going to post today. However, this is bit of politicking is too delicious not to comment upon. In an interview that will run on ABC's "Good Morning America" tomorrow morning, Barack Obama says that Bill Clinton "...has taken his advocacy on behalf of his wife to a level that I think is pretty troubling."
"He continues to make statements that are not supported by the facts -- whether it's about my record of opposition to the war in Iraq or our approach to organizing in Las Vegas. This has become a habit, and one of the things that we're going to have to do is to directly confront Bill Clinton when he's making statements that are not factually accurate.
In short, Obama is saying that the former president is a lying sack. So what else is new, Senator?
The remarkable thing about the statements as a tactic is this: it changes the nature of this war--a war called the 2008 Democrat nomination process, but is one that may be dubbed the Great Identity Politics War when we look back on it.
Obama has--wisely--changed to a more vulnerable target. No longer does the battle pit Man against Woman--one in which the woman is perceived to be the underdog even if the man is black and the woman is white. Now it's Black Man against White Man--and you know who the alleged underdog is in this battle.
Just remember the nature of Identity Politics Wars; the "weaker" opponent is always the victor.
UPDATE: Here's another salvo from the video. Obama:
President Clinton went on the...in front of a large group [and] said that I'd claimed that only Republicans had had any good ideas since 1980. And then he added "I'm not making this up." He was making it up and completely mischaracterizing my statement.
Recently, the New York Times ran a misleading, much-bashed and discredited series on the " widespread violent actions" perpetrated by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans subsequent to their return home.
Iowahawk, however, documents the widespread violent actions rampantly committed by veterans of another sort.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Robert L. Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, who is campaigning today in South Carolina with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, just made a suggestion that raised the specter of Barack Obama’s past drug use. He also compared Mr. Obama to Sidney Poitier, the black actor, in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”
At a rally here for Mrs. Clinton at Columbia College, Mr. Johnson was defending recent comments that Mrs. Clinton made regarding Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She did not mean to take any credit away from him, Mr. Johnson said, when she said that it took President Johnson to sign the civil rights legislation he fought for.
Dr. King had led a “moral crusade,” Mr. Johnson said, but such crusades have to be “written into law.”
“That is the way the legislative process works in this nation and that takes political leadership,” he said. “That’s all Hillary was saying.”
He then added: “And to me, as an African-American, I am frankly insulted that the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Hillary and Bill Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues since Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood –¬ and I won’t say what he was doing, but he said it in the book –¬ when they have been involved.”
Moments later, he added: “That kind of campaign behavior does not resonate with me, for a guy who says, ‘I want to be a reasonable, likable, Sidney Poitier ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.’ And I’m thinking, I’m thinking to myself, this ain’t a movie, Sidney. This is real life.”
The Clintons got Robert Johnson to talk them up? BET’s Robert Johnson? Black Entertainment Television’s Robert Johnson? The founder of that abomination which has perpetrated sustained damage on the image of black Americans with its rump-shaker/gangster rap videos? That same joke of an organization that doesn't even have a news division?
And the Clintons picked this guy to come to the senator’s aid against her rival? (Yeah, Johnson tried to clean up his remarks later. Whatever.)
Oh wait. A few months back, Senator Clinton did also get an endorsement from Dr. King follower and former US Ambassador to the UN Andrew Young who said that the senator had more black “bona fides” than Senator Obama because Former President Clinton had hitboned gone with more black women than Obama had. (The verb "to go with" is an old-black-folk euphemism.) I don’t recall hearing much from Andy since then. Somebody ought to check on the guy.
What’s next? The Mumia endorsement?
This stuff just gets funnier and funnier. And we definitely need some laughs around here. As I keep reminding everyone, Obama is too much of a Leftist for my taste (at least he’s honest about it), but I can’t help but feel a bit smug as the Clintons show not only just how black they aren’t but how much contempt they have for the black Americans--especially black men--who have embraced them.
Of all the black people in the world who would attack Obama on behalf of the Clintons, it would be Bob Johnson, founder of Black Exploitation Television. Gimme a break!
Hillary’s black supporters are old-school race-hustlers–not embarrassed to show bigoted contempt for non-militant, achieving blacks. Whatever you think of Obama’s politics and qualifications to be president, he is a successful person and he has led an impressive campaign.
We seem to be at the point where there are now two credible possibilities. One is that the Clinton campaign is intentionally pursuing a strategy of using surrogates to hit Obama with racially-charged language or with charges that while not directly tied to race nonetheless play to stereotypes about black men. The other possibility is that the Clinton campaign is extraordinarily unlucky and continually finds its surrogates stumbling on to racially-charged or denigrating language when discussing Obama.
She and Bill obviously think that they've so cemented the issue of the Clintons as our first Black Presidents that their racial fides is above suspicion. It isn't; and the Obama the soul speaker vs. Hillary the brainy insider is a lose / lose / lose /lose proposition. I'm surprised that her handlers haven't muzzled altogether the Clintoni on this issue.
[W]hat the Clintons may be doing is getting Obama's supporters to tarnish him by proxy on this issue. Even if Obama doesn't do it personally, if there's a tsunami of people around him playing the race card -- even if there's some validity to it -- a lot of white voters who are warm to Obama may assume that he's another Jesse Jackson after all.
UPDATE: More seriously, in largely black South Carolina, the conflict between Clinton supporters and Obama supporters seems to be taking on racial overtones.
The comments, which ranged from the New York senator [Clinton] appearing to diminish the role of Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights movement — an aide later said she misspoke — to Bill Clinton dismissing Sen. Barack Obama’s image in the media as a “fairy tale” — generated outrage on black radio, black blogs and cable television. And now they've drawn the attention of prominent African-American politicians.
“A cross-section of voters are alarmed at the tenor of some of these statements,” said Obama spokeswoman Candice Tolliver, who said that Clinton would have to decide whether she owed anyone an apology.
I will admit to having giggled at the senator’s innocent “spade work” comment the other day, but feared that things might get more tense—and divisive--as time wore on. Laughter is one thing. Escalating the issue beyond that is another.
What do ‘fairy tales’ have to do with race? Nothing, of course. As with the Steinem and Barr statements, tribalism is on display here--this time in its more traditional sense.
Let's be clear. I'm not saying that such a thing is outside to realm of possibility. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't put it past the supporters of one presidential candidate in particular--one with an 'R' behind his name. But these "warnings" of assassination are merely fuel to urge on BDS/anarchy fantasists--ideological kin to the author of The Turner Diaries. Interesting that they come from the Left.
Fellow Americans, here’s a suggestion: how about we not fantasize about this country turning into Kenya or Pakistan or reverting to the 1968 version of the USA just yet. That’s the only horse I have in this particular race.
And we all need some laughs, here's Chris Rock in his stand-up routine in NYC on New Year's Eve talking about Barack Obama
Bush [bleeped] up so bad, now people are like, 'We don't want another white guy in the White House' . . . but Barack don't realize he's the black candidate, talking in measured tones like he does.
and Hillary Clinton:
I think America's ready for a woman president . . . just not that woman. Being married to somebody doesn't make you good at their job. I've been with my wife 10 years now. If she got up here right now, y'all wouldn't laugh. At all. You get on a plane tomorrow, you want the pilot's wife flying you?
(Thanks to Karl at Protein Wisdom who sums things up quite nicely.)
Christmas in the Netherlands and the Dutch concept of Saint Nicholas have to be seen to be appreciated. (Aside: I did know about the real St. Nick being a Turk living in what is now Turkey.)
Yesterday--in honor of Russian President Vladimir Putin's 55th birthday--Pajamas Media featured some translations of Putin jokes, from the Russian, of course. The flavor of jokes indicates that the Russian people have to deal with their own version of a wannabe earthly savior. Some examples:
Putin can scratch his own heel without bending over.
Shirts worn by Putin are sent to a secret military facility and converted to the strongest layer of armor for the Russian tanks.
Putin’s used tissues become the property of the Department of Cartography and their content is classified.
In the movies, Putin’s part is usually played by his twin brother Chuck Norris.
Putin can power up a microphone with his stare and shut down the Windows Media Player with his voice.
Once a month the full moon howls at Putin.
Putin, who is constitutionally required to step down as president for at least one term, is reputed to be maneuvering to become Russia's Prime Minister. Again. But there is at least one group which advocates that Putin remains president. Not so funny.
Dan Rather, whose career at CBS News ground to an inglorious end 15 months ago over his role in an unsubstantiated report questioning President Bush’s Vietnam-era National Guard service, filed a lawsuit this afternoon against the network, its corporate parent and three of his former superiors.
Mr. Rather, 75, asserts that the network violated his contract by giving him insufficient airtime on “60 Minutes” after forcing him to step down as anchor of the “CBS Evening News” in March 2005. He also contends that the network committed fraud by commissioning a “biased” and incomplete investigation of the flawed Guard broadcast and, in the process, “seriously damaged his reputation.”
Rather is seeking $70 million in damages and names the CBS/Viacom top executives and the former president of CBS News as the respondents.
In light of CBS News anchor Katie Couric's sky-high salary, of the payout--and rehiring--of Don Imus and of CBS's abyssmal ratings , I have only one question: is CBS even good for $70 million?
One of the updates to my Berger-Clinton post contains a report that Norman Hsu's "illness" was a suicide attempt. This discovery stemmed from the fact that Hsu sent copies of a suicide note to several acquaintances.
In the note, Hsu reportedly used a time-tested tactic of responsibility avoidance: blame the black guy.
Hsu's undoing began two weeks ago with articles raising questions about his fundraising activities in the Wall Street Journal and about a criminal case in his past in The Times. In his letter, said a person familiar with its contents who asked to remain anonymous, Hsu contended that those articles were planted "by a politician who pledged 'hope and change' " -- an apparent reference to Sen. Barack Obama, Clinton's main rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Obama's camp ridicules the idea, of course. However, the Democrat-infighting is far more entertaining that those of the Republicans. Popcorn.
Here are examples of the type of pornography to which we straight women respond. I bet that all you married guys know that the positions in which these men have contorted themselves bring the desired results.
Oh and don't worry. Your boss won't mind if you click the link.
A bit more serious than Senator Larry Craig’s public bathroom habits—but far more entertaining--is the fact that one of Senator Hillary Clinton’s major fundraisers for her 2008 presidential campaign turns out to be a fugitive from justice.
For the last 15 years, California authorities have been trying to figure out what happened to a businessman named Norman Hsu, who pleaded no contest to grand theft, agreed to serve up to three years in prison and then seemed to vanish. [SNIP]
Hsu, it seems, has been hiding in plain sight, at least for the last three years.
Since 2004, one Norman Hsu has been carving out a prominent place of honor among Democratic fundraisers. He has funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions into party coffers, much of it earmarked for presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
Apparently, California authorities weren’t looking too hard for a man who is, admittedly, not public enemy number one, but sheesh! During his time as a “desperado,” Mr. Hsu has been making himself useful to Democrat candidates nationwide.
In addition to making his own contributions, Hsu has honed the practice of assembling packets of checks from contributors who bear little resemblance to the usual Democratic deep pockets: A self-described apparel executive with a variety of business interests, Hsu has focused on delivering hefty contributions from citizens who live modest lives and are neophytes in the world of campaign giving. [SNIP]
As a Democratic rainmaker, Hsu -- who graduated from UC Berkeley and the Wharton School of Business -- is credited with donating nearly $500,000 to national and local party candidates and their political committees in the last three years. He earned a place in the Clinton campaign's "HillRaiser" group by pledging to raise more than $100,000 for her presidential bid.
Records show that Hsu helped raise an additional $500,000 from other sources for Clinton and other Democrats. [SNIP]
Records show that Hsu has emerged as one of the Democrats' most successful "bundlers," rounding up groups of contributors and packaging their checks together before delivering the funds to campaign officials. Individuals can give a total of $4,600 to a single candidate during an election cycle, $2,300 for the primaries and $2,300 for the general election.
One example of the kind of first-time donors Hsu has worked with is the Paw family of Daly City, Calif., which is headed by William Paw, a mail carrier, and his wife, Alice, who is listed as a homemaker.
The W$J link contains the individual Paw family contributors, along with amounts, dates and the very many local and national recipients. "Suffice it to say, the list is extensive."
The family includes a son, Winkle Paw, who Barcella said was in business with Hsu. Another son works for a Bay Area school board, while one daughter works for a hospital and another for a computer company. [SNIP]
Over the [three] years, Hsu and his associates have given to Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, Barack Obama of Illinois and Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware. Obama and Biden, like Clinton, are seeking the presidential nomination.
Hsu's legal troubles date back almost 20 years.
Beginning in 1989, court records show, he began raising what added up to more than $1 million from investors, purportedly to buy latex gloves; investors were told Hsu had a contract to resell the gloves to a major American business.
In 1991, Hsu was charged with grand theft. Prosecutors said there were no latex gloves and no contract to sell them.
(Emphasis mine.)
When I first heard a detailed report about Mr. Hsu's "bundler" role (this morning), my first response was that the Democrats had nearly perfected a way to avoid the soft money restrictions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 aka McCain-Feingold--by making it appear that the many small donations came from this family. If this is so, the Democrats may have picked the perfect man to get around this--arguably unconstitutional--law. (Isn't this part of the reason that that there was so much bipartisan opposition to BCRA in the first place?)
One wonders whether Mr. Hsu has been protected from arrest over these few years of his making rain.
Our “betters”—Republican and Democrat—are no better than us. But we knew that.
(Thanks to Sweetness and Light, who is astonished that this story appeared in the Los Angeles Times)
Al Franken, a Senate candidate in Minnesota, Rep. Michael Honda of California and Rep. Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania said they would divest their campaigns of donations from Norman Hsu, whose legal encounters and links to other Democratic donors have drawn public scrutiny in the past two days. Franken's campaign received $2,300 from Hsu and Sestak and Honda each received $1,000 for their re-election efforts.
The bigger boys and girls are less quick on the draw.
The Clinton campaign did not immediately comment on Hsu's legal situation. But in a statement issued Tuesday, the campaign defended Hsu in response to the Journal report about a San Francisco family whose contribution patterns tracked Hsu's.
"Norman Hsu is a longtime and generous supporter of the Democratic Party and its candidates, including Senator Clinton," Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said in a statement Tuesday. "During Mr. Hsu's many years of active participation in the political process, there has been no question about his integrity or his commitment to playing by the rules, and we have absolutely no reason to call his contributions into question or to return them."
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton will give to charity the $23,000 in donations that she has received from a fundraiser who is wanted in California for failing to appear for sentencing on a 1991 grand theft charge.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, who had been a fugitive from a 1992 grand larceny case, was briefly jailed today [August 31] before posting bail.
Superior Court Judge H. James Ellis this morning ordered Hsu held and ordered bail set at $2 million. [SNIP]
Hsu appeared at the San Mateo County courthouse before 8 a.m., more than 45 minutes early. Having suddenly found himself front-page news, he has retained attorney James Brosnahan of the blue-chip San Francisco law firm Morrison & Foerster and the Los Angeles-based public relations firm headed by Michael Sitrick.
As Hsu waited in the hallway for the hearing to begin, he huddled with an attorney and spokesman Jason Booth. They declined to comment. Hsu spoke on his cellphone and chewed his fingernails.
Posted with Blogsy
helps the understanding. (Yes, I am hardcore.)
and the black woman who dubbed Bill Clinton "the first black president," 
Recent Comments