Archive for Obama
Obama’s First Test, Will He Stand Up To Gays?
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Does President Elect Obama have the mettle to make a decision and stick with it?
Obama has chosen Rick Warren, the senior pastor of Saddleback Church in southern California to deliver the invocation at his inauguration.
Obama’s choice has ignited a rash of criticism from gays who are seeking to oust Warren from the ceremony because of his support for Proposition 8 in California.
If Obama caves into their demands, it will be difficult to imagine him advocating for America against global competitors or enemies. This is not a litmus test on gay rights as the homosexual community would have you believe, but a test of Obama’s character. Any decision he makes as President will anger someone, and we are watching to see if he has the courage of his convictions.
Gifts for the Obama Supporter
Posted by: | CommentsWith a month in the books since the election of Barack Obama, how is everyone in the ‘Obama nation’ doing? Have you stopped the high-fives and hugs every time you see a fellow Obama backer? Has the avalanche of email, texts, and tweets slowed to a trickle? Is there a bit of Obama withdrawal going on here?
What are you doing with all your time these days? No more sitting with your fellow Obama buddies making calls and walking precincts. No more Obama parties at your house, snacking on free-range guacamole and organic chips while you plan the ‘get out the vote’ drive for Election Day. No more annoying the daylights out of your friends and family with how Obama is going to stop the war, stop the glaciers from melting, give everyone free health care, free college and save every one’s house from foreclosure. Are you marking the days until January 20th, when the world will finally be right? It must be a bit of a let down for you.
Despair not Obama supporters, the rest of us who know and love you will try and help in these gloomy days with a few Christmas gifts especially for you.
1. A book.
Yes, I know, who still reads paper books when I can get all the latest Obama news conferences live-streamed directly to my Blackberry? Have you seen the cool official seal and podium for the Office of President Elect? Impressive isn’t it? You need to unplug yourself. Turn off all your electronic devices and actually read a book. I don’t mean re-read The Audacity of Hope for the third time, I would start with The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright. Wright is not a right-wing nut job, far from it, he is a Pulitzer winning author and writer for the New Yorker. The Looming Tower is the most comprehensive book written about al Qaeda, and origins of Islamic terrorism. If you want to know why President elect Obama will not be getting our troops out of the Middle East anytime soon, it because he is now getting the President’s daily briefing and he is finding out just how dangerous the world really is. You should too.
2. A one-year membership in the NRA.
I know, you think these people are crazy and you hate them, but if I can take someone mistakenly sending me a year’s subscription to The Sierra Club, you can handle the NRA. I learned a lot about how the environmentally unbalanced folks think. You can choose between three magazines, The American Hunter, The American Rifleman or America’s 1st freedom. You won’t find a bunch of rabid Republican Nazis in these magazines, you will find your friends and neighbors. Well, maybe not your friends and neighbors, but they might be mine. You also get a free hat and sticker for your car, pretty cool eh?
3. An application for a business license.
Not that you have to start a new business, but you should at least know the process those who own our local businesses have to go through just for the opportunity to succeed or fail. Get a City or County business license application, and one for the State of California’s Department of Equalization and then just for fun ask for a liability and worker’s compensation insurance application from your local broker. The amount of paperwork and fees it takes just to open your doors and put your financial life on the line will make your head spin. It should give you a glimpse into the world of the ‘rich’, you know, the ones you want to raise taxes on to pay for everything Obama is promising.
That should take you all the way through to inauguration day. It will also take you out of your Obama bubble and back into the real world where great speeches and slogans don’t amount to much. There are real challenges we face as a nation. Terrorism, a recession, and the looming crisis of entitlement spending. You need to understand all sides on these issues, both fiscal and social. When you spend all your time talking to like minded people who you agree with, it makes you intellectually lazy. Exercise your brain this holiday season so you can explain to your fellow dreamy-eyed Obama supporters why the Utopian vision they had may have to be amended.
And yes, I am still waiting for my magic unicorn Barack Obama promised me.
Ashley Todd, How Twitter and Raw Story Caught McCain Supporter
Posted by: | CommentsThe scare tactics of the John McCain team.
More race baiting from the John McCain/Matt Drudge campaign. Or as The Field Negro said, another white person cries wolf: or, in this case, Obama.
AAPP: It was great that CNN refused to pump up the story. Fox & Friends’ loved to pump up her lies, and race baiting political hate crime. If this was the 1940’s and 50’s a Big Black Guy would have been lynched. What! A Big Black Obama Supporter carving a B into a white woman who attacked her. Thank god, some things have changed in this country, there are now black police officers, detectives and other police officials who questioned the story from the beginning. If this was the deep south or deep north, a black man may have been dragged out of some place and blamed for a crime that never happened. Maybe blogger Jabrielle Ballentine is right, she did it in order to fuel racial tensions. She should be charged with conspiracy to incite a riot.
Ashley Todd’s assault has been confirmed to be a hoax, the McCain volunteer made up attack story reports the Chicago Tribune.
The Police have said there are inconsistencies in the McCain staffer’s story. The Police reportedly admitted Friday the attack was a hoax. I guess the McCain Campaign will have to drop any planned Willie Horton type ad regarding Ashley Todd on the tube. I know the far right news outlets, and conservative bloggers will be pissed. The McCain Camp Has Its Own Tawana Brawley.
You see, the 20-year-old Ashley Todd was facing a Polygraph test to be administered by officials after claiming she was brutally beaten over her political views.
I didn’t cover this robbery story as it sounded like it was fabricated. I like many other bloggers thought this story sounded shaky and smelled awfully weird. The old race baiting trick about a white girl going into a black neighborhood, blaming a black guy for an assualt, fondling and robbery. What really was strange was the writing of the B backwards on the face. I knew that in reading and hearing about robberies, there was a problem that would come out in the red neck wash. You see, black folks (negros) don’t write messages on people, after a robbery, they just get the hell out of the neighborhood.
New we learn that it was all a bogus hoax, blaming the black man again.
Get this, Ashley Todd, claimed she was attacked and robbed of $60 at an ATM in the Pittsburgh, Bloomfield area Wednesday night when a ‘6′4, 200-pound black man‘ mugged her and discovered she was a McCain: McCain/Palin supporter. Get this, according to Todd, the black man robbed her at knifepoint before noticing the McCain bumper sticker on her car - triggering him to allegedly begin beating Todd with his hands and feet and carving an odd, backwards “B” on her face with his knife. More HERE
Now, as reported in Raw Story, shortly before a John McCain campaign volunteer was reportedly robbed at knifepoint and had a “B” carved in her face after her assailant noticed that her car carried a McCain bumper sticker, the woman blogged last night that she was “Stubbornly searching for a bank of america to avoid ATM fees” and had somehow ended up “on the wrong side of Pittsburgh.”
Ashley Todd, a 20-year-old Texas college student, told cops that she was robbed of $60 by a 6′ 4″ black man who weighed about 200 pounds. Todd claimed that when her assailant noticed the McCain sticker on her vehicle, he punched her in the head and carved the letter on her right cheek (a battered Todd can be seen at right).
Shortly before the reported 9 PM attack, Todd updated her Twitter page with a post noting that she was, “Stubbornly searching for a bank of america to avoid ATM fees.” Soon after, she blogged, “Pretty sure I’m on the wrong side of pittsburgh.” Three hours after that update, Todd wrote, “Oh the blog I will be making soon…Its been a rough night.”
A screen grab of Todd’s Twitter page–which was linked from her page on a College Republican National Committee web site–can be found below. At about 6 PM (est) tonight, Todd’s Twitter page became protected and was no longer publicly available. More HERE
Blogger, African American Political Pundit writes for the blog African American Political Pundit
OPEC, and The US Government; Parasites Die When They Kill Their Host.
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Get out your tiny violins for the oil speculators and OPEC countries as the price of oil has more than halved from last summer. They are having an emergency.
VIENNA (Reuters) - An emergency OPEC meeting on Friday reached swift agreement to chop production by 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) as a first step toward halting a deep oil price slide.
International benchmark U.S. crude has slumped by well over 50 percent from a record high of $147.27 hit in July. On Friday, it fell again to just over $63 a barrel.
The price of gas last summer took so much money out of the American economy it triggered the global financial crisis. OPEC is trying to cut production to stabilize prices.
“The decision was straightforward,” Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said after the meeting.
“OPEC will do whatever is necessary to balance oil markets.”
Before the roughly two hours of talks, which ended just before noon, ministers had been in broad agreement about the need to reduce production, but had disagreed over the extent of any cut.
They said they had to balance their own needs with those of a flailing world economy.
“Any cut should not affect the global (financial) market,” said Kuwaiti Oil Minister Mohammed al-Olaim, adding the reduction would be “a wise cut.” source
When a parasite kills the host, the parasite dies too. They have wounded the beast they live on and are trying to stay alive without killing it.
Barack Obama should be paying attention. History has shown that tax reductions have increased the flow to the US Treasury , and increases have the opposite effect.
People with money spend it, or invest it. That creates jobs. If it is taken away, they will do less of both.
When Obama raises taxes next year, will it kill the already injured host?
There’s still time, vote no on Obama.
Brokaw looked old. McCain looked old. Obama looked young and Presidential
Posted by: | CommentsI could not agree more with Tom Shales of the Washington Post when he wrote, Brokaw looked old. McCain looked old and Obama looked young. Yes, Brokaw looked old, McCain looked old and Tom Brokaw treated Obama as the Hired Help.
Tom Shales was right when you wrote, “The biggest wet blanket on the debate stage, however, was moderator Tom Brokaw, who also played a kind of military role: Commander of the Clock. Time and again, the NBC newsman inflicted frivolous rules on the candidates that only served to frustrate true debate and the kind of give-and-take that a “town hall” format supposedly encourages. At least twice, Obama started to answer one of Brokaw’s questions only to have Brokaw call instead on McCain, which was rude and embarrassing.”
Tom Shales was also right when he wrote, “Exactly what the rules were remained unclear, even though Brokaw explained them at the start of the debate. He called for “discussion” periods that seemed only a minute long; what kind of a “discussion” is that? If a discussion really did threaten to break out, Brokaw got grumpy and called it off. The least important thing on an occasion such as this are a bunch of arbitrary rules concocted by the debate organizers (with the counsel of both parties, Brokaw insisted).”
AAPP: I agree with many media watch organizations such as Media Matters. I also agree with journalist, such as the Huffington Post, Hartford Courant, Kansas City Star, St. Petersburg Times, and bloggers regarding Brokaws performance last night. I hope this was Brokaw’s last stand as a debate moderator. As it sure looks like this may have been John McCain’s last stand, and he lost it. John McCain’s attack on Barack Obama failed last night. It’s clear that the momentum has turned against him.The bottom line with the economy on the verge of collapse, McCain failed to achieve the political surge he needed, even with the additional help from his buddy Tom Brokaw. John McCain’s proposal of another $300 billion plan to buy up bad mortgages was not thought out.
Barack Obama was a master last night. He acted presidential and gave reassurance to the American people that he is ready to lead. While Tom Brokaw looked old and John McCain just looked… old and acted color aroused.
L.N. Rock, is a regular contributor and writes for African American Political Pundit.com
Kids Sing To Der Fuhrer Obama - Video
Posted by: | CommentsSay Goodbye To All Of Obama’s Campaign Promises
Posted by: | CommentsThe past ten days has radically shifted the entire course of the Presidential campaigns… but seemingly not in the way that most people have caught on to yet.
From Firedoglake
I can’t think of any way to sugar coat this, I’m afraid. It’s a bad bill and it isn’t just that Barack Obama voted for it, it’s that everything I’m hearing from the Hill says that he’s been actively whipping it, not just in the Senate but in the House. Barack didn’t hold his nose and vote for this, he made it his bill as much as it is Paulson’s.
With this bill go your chances of having, say, universal health care, or massive infrastructure development, or really getting the US of its dependence on foreign oil, or really rebuilding America’s school system—or whatever other big, expensive project you thought Obama was promising….
….And it’s Barack Obama who turned to Nancy Pelosi and Reid and said “this bill must pass”. It’s Obama who is whipping votes and bending arms for this despite the fact that it is massively unpopular. This is Obama’s bill.
….That’s Obama’s first real act as the presumptive President and as the Democratic party’s de-facto leader.
I both agree and disagree with this article.
While I do agree that the bill as passed is less than great, I disagree with the author’s reasoning behind why the bill is so bad. As I have said before, the bill is a necessary evil and is better than not acting at all, but the bill as it was passed was terrible because of all the pork.
I do agree with the author that all of the projects that Obama has promised are dead in the water now.
Obama’s proposed projects would cost the United States $1.2 trillion… and he just signed on to a bill that eats about $815 billion out of the budget. It will be virtually impossible to add anything else of any size to the budget, even for the god-like Barack Obama.
It’s no wonder that Obama is getting really vague about what he is actually still going to accomplish… especially during the debates
LEHRER: All right. All right, speaking of things that both of you want, another lead question, and it has to do with the rescue — the financial rescue thing that we started — started asking about.
And what — and the first answer is to you, Senator Obama. As president, as a result of whatever financial rescue plan comes about and the billion, $700 billion, whatever it is it’s going to cost, what are you going to have to give up, in terms of the priorities that you would bring as president of the United States, as a result of having to pay for the financial rescue plan?
OBAMA: Well, there are a range of things that are probably going to have to be delayed. We don’t yet know what our tax revenues are going to be. The economy is slowing down, so it’s hard to anticipate right now what the budget is going to look like next year.
But there’s no doubt that we’re not going to be able to do everything that I think needs to be done.
Lehrer went on to press Obama even further and Obama got even more avoidant. The sidestepping during the debate was really interesting to watch though.
With those few deft phrases, Obama has basically absolved himself of actually having to deliver on any promises what-so-ever if he becomes President.
As the author from Firedoglake said… say good by to “universal health care, or massive infrastructure development, or really getting the US of its dependence on foreign oil, or really rebuilding America’s school system—or whatever other big, expensive project you thought Obama was promising.”
The fact is that, because of the price tag of the bailout bill, Obama cannot fulfill a single promise he has made and has as much as admitted it.
John McCain on the other hand can still deliver on his promises. He wants to cut spending and increase oversight to stimulate the economy, increase job creation and keep industry honest and on track.
And, so I will leave you with this…
Knowing all of the above… what is your answer to Bill Clinton’s question now?
For example, you’re a voter, and you have Candidate X and Candidate Y. Candidate X agrees with you on everything. But you don’t think that person can deliver on anything. Candidate Y disagrees with you on half the issues, but you believe that, on the other half, the candidate will be able to deliver. For whom will you vote?
Kids Sing To Der Fuhrer Obama - An Update
Posted by: | CommentsIn the last week or so, a video with children in a neighborhood house singing about how Obama is going to change the world has gone viral.
For many, the video is cute and wonderful. For many more, it is kind of creepy, a sort of HitlerJugen flashback.
Because so many others have covered the kids singing that Obama is going to change the world thing, I decided not to cover it intially, but I did some diggin and I do have an update on what has already been discussed..
First, here is the video in case you missed it.
The video is set up to look like a spontaneous grass roots movement event at a “neighbors” house, but it is pure AstroTurf… pure.
If you are not familiar with the term AstroTurf, when used in a political setting it means fake grassroots. Something that is set up and professionally managed to look like it is a grassroots or spontaneous movement… but, once again, it is really artificial and professional.
When watching the video, the first thing I noticed was the quality of the picture and the steady swoop in to the little girl. Seemed like pretty damn good camera work to me… too damn good to be some neighborhood bullshit.
And then I noticed the microphones… those are professional quality studio mics… and expensive as hell. These are not home studio mics. PROFESSIONAL.
So, I decided to do some digging, and guess what I found… AstroTurf.
Here is the statement from the website:
Sing for Change was a confluence of hard work, good will, and shared vision. Inspired by ideas raised at a grassroots Obama fundraiser, a music teacher, Kathy Sawada, and the children composed and rehearsed the songs in less than two weeks. Several musicians heard of the effort and volunteered to accompany the children. Parents and older siblings designed and provided the T-Shirts and the banner. There’s a first for everything, but rarely do so many firsts come together at once: for the children and their parents, this is their first performance, first video, first banner, and first involvement with grassroots work on a presidential campaign.
Ok, so there is the grassroots claim… yeah. ok.
Oh, then there comes this:
Production wizards got wind of the project and offered their help in recording it. The likes of Jeff Zucker, Holly Schiffer, Peter Rosenfeld, Darin Moran, Jean Martin, Andy Blumenthal, and Nick Phoenix rearranged schedules to participate. Holly Schiffer was able to get three High Definition cameras (Panasonic HVX250’s), and an AVID editing facility. When Jeff Zucker went to pick up the camera package, Ted Schilowitz happened to be there and offered a RED camera set up on a Steadi Cam.
You’re kidding me, right? Jeff Zucker “got wind” of a little neighborhood music teacher’s little neighborhood grassroots project?
In case you don’t know… I will explain who these people are.
* Jeff Zucker is President and Chief Executive Officer of NBC Universal!!!!!!!!!!!
* Peter Rosenfeld is a camera operator/steadicam specialist with over 15 years in the biz and specializes in documentary film making.
* Darin Moran was the camera operator on films like The New World, Disturbia, Lemony Snickets, Rendition, and The Kingdom… serious friggin movies!
* Nick Phoenix “has either scored or licensed music for the ad campaigns of over 1000 major motion pictures. “Wall-E”, “Speed Racer”, “Indiana Jones 4″ “The Hulk”, “Prince Caspian”, The Happening”, “Hellboy 2″, “Spiderman 3″, “Golden Compass”, “The Assassination of Jesse James”, “Pirates of the Caribbean 3″, “Babel”, “Hitman”, “I Am Legend”, “300″, “No Country For Old Men”, “Harry Potter 5″, “The Brave One”, “Blood Diamond”, and “Night at the Museum” are a few recent examples.” Holy Crap… That’s like every single movie released in the last two years?
* Ted Schilowitz is an award winning Director and Producer who has created projects for Discovery Channel, E! Entertainment, Nickelodeon, Fox, NBC, PBS, etc.
And do you have any idea how expensive those cameras are? Holy God.
You gotta be kidding, right? Grassroots?
Answer me this… how grassroots is a video made by people that could very well work together to make the next $100 million Tom Cruise action flick?
Astroturf at it’s finest and most pure.
Way to go Barry and Dave… way to go.
