Memo to the G.O.P.: Step Lightly Folks….

 The question is…. Will it work?

The Story: GOP sees Rev. Wright as pathway to victory (Via Politico.com)

Quote:

For months, Republican party officials have watched with increasing trepidation as Barack Obama has shattered fundraising records, packed arena after arena with shrieking fans and pulled in significant Republican and independent votes.

Now, with the emergence of the notorious video showing the Rev. Jeremiah Wright damning the country, criticizing Israel, faulting U.S. policy for the Sept. 11 attacks and generally lashing out against white America, GOP strategists believe they’ve finally found an antidote to Obamamania.

 
In their view, the inflammatory sermons by Obama’s pastor offer the party a pathway to victory if Obama emerges as the Democratic nominee. Not only will the video clips enable some elements of the party to define him as unpatriotic, they will also serve as a powerful motivating force for the conservative base.

 

The G.O.P. has indeed been looking for some ammo to use against Obama.

The real question is, will it work? At first blush, one would say "yes, absolutely!” However, thinking about it more, it could come back to haunt the G.O.P, some Liberal 527 group could come along and attempt to paint an attack of that sort as a racial attack against Obama and try to paint the G.O.P. as utterly racist.

If I were the G.O.P., I would be very, very, very, careful in how I approached this, because handled the wrong way, could and possibly would, come back to haunt the G.O.P, in November and would only serve to strengthen the Democrats and Obama’s Campaign.

So, as the title of this entry says… Step Lightly folks, or it could backfire on you.

Just a thought.

Others: Commentary, Sweetness & Light, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, No More Mister Nice Blog, Political Punch, Newsday, Riehl World View, culturekitchen, Reason Magazine, NO QUARTER, The Mahablog, Patterico’s Pontifications, Real Clear Politics, Shakesville, Comments from Left Field, Booman Tribune, American Power and Weekly Standard BlogMore via Memeorandum

Keith Olbermann’s Worst Persons in The World

Here’s the Worst persons:

Bronze: Himself (Keith, that is) for blaming the New York Times Editor for hiring William Kristol, because of his writing about Obama with bad facts from NewsMax (I bet that was an interesting phone call! "What the hell you blaming me for? I didn’t hire the idiot!)

Silver: Rupert Murdock for royally screwing his 99 year old Mom. (Beware, that site is quite slow.)

Gold: Republican Presidential  John McCain’s Now infamous Gaffe.

Obama’s Speech

Here is the Video, a link to the transcript and my personal reaction.

Here it is:

Transcript is available at TPM Election Central

Okay here is my official reaction. I watched the entire speech. At first, I thought, "Oh Boy, here he goes into his regular talking points." However, as I continued to watch, he began to discuss the current situation, and I feel he addressed them as best he could, given the situation that he is in.

I am however, quite dismayed of the reaction among the conservatives within the Blogging community. They are just downright dismissive, and that,  frankly bothers me, how is it, that the party that was, during it's formative years, the party of Anti-Slavery, is dismissive of a man, who is in one of the most unique of circumstances? How can they be so vile and hateful towards a man, that is doing his utter damnedest to calm down a situation, that was not of his own doing, you know who you are, You are Bastards! All of you! You should hang your God-forsaken heads in shame! You are doing absolutely nothing to further the discourse of the discussion of this election, instead, you are retreating to the cowardly corners of your Political Ideologies. May the Almighty God be your Judge! Again, I say, you ALL know who you are!

Anyhow, that's my reaction, I like it, I did feel, however, that he could have went a bit further, however, one must realize, that he is walking a tightrope, between not alienating himself from the black community, all elements of it, and not alienating the rest of America as well. It is not an easy thing to do. 

Hopefully, this speech will quell the nonsense within the media. At least it is a start on Obama's part.

Other Bloggers on this, Left and Right and everything in between: The New Republic, Washington Post, Gateway Pundit, PressThink, Transterrestrial Musings, The Huffington Post, New York Times, TownHall Blog, protein wisdom, Real Clear Politics, The Corner, Confederate Yankee, Sister Toldjah, Wall Street Journal, Commentary, Fox News, No More Mister Nice Blog, All Spin Zone, Group News Blog, Hot Air, The Caucus, MSNBC, Pam’s House Blend, ABCNEWS, Weekly Standard Blog, Marc Ambinder, Power Line, TPM Election Central, NYCweboy, OPENERS, Outside The Beltway, The Moderate Voice, MyDD, michellemalkin.com, Rocky Mountain News, Redstate, Patterico’s Pontifications, Ablogistan, The Jawa Report, Done With Mirrors, The Agonist, Brave New Films blog, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, The Washington Note, Eunomia, Jules Crittenden, The Washington Independent, Will Wilkinson, Wake up America, Neptunus Lex, The Reaction, TPMCafe, Lean Left, Pajamas Media, Left in the West, The Sundries Shack, Don Surber, Harry’s Place, CNN, Dick Polman’s American Debate, Lynn Sweet, The Carpetbagger Report, The Strata-Sphere, TalkLeft, This ain’t Hell …, Jack and Jill Politics, Right Wing Nut HouseMore via Memeorandum

Breaking News: Gov. David Paterson and wife Admit to extramarital affairs

Freaking Jesus Already, can’t the married people in New York keep it in their pants? WOW! Surprise

The Story: Newly Elected Governor David Paterson Admits to affair (via New York Daily News)

Quote:

The thunderous applause was still ringing in his ears when the state’s new governor, David Paterson, told the Daily News that he and his wife had extramarital affairs.

In a stunning revelation, both Paterson, 53, and his wife, Michelle, 46, acknowledged in a joint interview they each had intimate relationships with others during a rocky period in their marriage several years ago.

In the course of several interviews in the past few days, Paterson said he maintained a relationship for two or three years with "a woman other than my wife," beginning in 1999.

Man, this is crazy, first a Governor resigns over buying hookers, and now the newly minted admits that he had an affair??!?!? What is it with New Yorkers and out of control sex? Holy Cow!

Are these people taking cues from the Mayor of Detroit or what?

It just keeps getting interesting by the minute.

Other Bloggers covering this: Talking Points Memo, TownHall Blog, protein wisdom, Little Green Footballs, Gawker, Gothamist, Wonkette, michellemalkin.com, Ben Smith’s Blogs, Scared Monkeys, New York Magazine, TPM Election Central, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Gateway Pundit

Too Little….Too Late….

 Sorry say it. But………………..

The Story: Obama plans major race speech tomorrow  (Via Politico.com)

Barack Obama will give a major speech on "the larger issue of race in this campaign," he told reporters in Monaca, PA just now.

He was pressed there, as he has been at recent appearances, on statements by his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright.

"I am going to be talking about not just Reverend Wright, but the larger issue of race in this campaign," he said.

He added that he would "talk about how some of these issues are perceived from within the black church issue for example," he said.

He also briefly defended Wright from the image that has come through in a handful of repeatedly televised clips from recent Wright sermons.

"The caricature that’s being painted of him is not accurate," he said.

The speech could offer Obama an opportunity to move past the controversy over his pastor, and to turn the conversation to a topic he’d rather focus on: his Christian faith. But the speech also guarantees that the Wright story will continue to dominate political headlines.

Mitt Romney’s attempt directly to address his Mormonism last year never decisively put the issue to rest for some voters.


Obama’s schedule puts him in Philadelphia tomorrow.

Sorry to say it, But I think that it is basically too little, too late. The damage is done. He may try and distance himself from his Pastor, But the fact remains, But Jeremiah Wright is his Pastor

Judging from the polls, his popularity is gone.

Should have thought about that preacher thing before running, Barry.

Others: Marc Ambinder, The Swamp, The New Republic, Ankle Biting Pundits, Wonkette, Donklephant, Classical Values, Gateway Pundit, QandO, Hot Air, PunditGuy and Macsmind (H/T Memeorandum)

Then why in the heck did he even bother to run?????

Good grief, the more I hear about this stupid story, the more I wonder about Obama’s Judgement Ability.

The story: The Rev. Jeremiah Wright was an early concern, Obama aide admits (via LATIMES)

Quote:

After he moved to Chicago in the mid-1980s to work as a community organizer, Barack Obama forged close ties with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright — joining the pastor’s Trinity United Church of Christ in 1988 and using the topic of a Wright sermon, "the audacity of hope," as the title of his most recent best-selling book.

But more than a year ago — long before some of Wright’s more incendiary sermons became hot-button videos on YouTube, forcing Obama to publicly renounce his pastor last week — the Obama campaign had a sense that Wright’s sharp tongue might spell trouble for the Illinois senator.  (For a sermon sample, click on the Read more line below.)

That was the word anyway Sunday from Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, who acknowledged during a conference call with reporters that Wright was disinvited …

from Obama’s official candidacy announcement on Feb. 10, 2007, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill.

Wright had been expected to lead an invocation of some kind, but never appeared.

“There was no doubt that there was controversy surrounding him,” Axelrod said Sunday.  “And we didn’t want to expose him … [or] make him the target and a distraction on a day when Sen. Obama was going to announce his candidacy.”

My question is, if Obama was keenly aware of this man’s hateful rhetoric, then why the heck did he even bother running for President? I mean, to be quite honest with you, from what I’m reading across the Blogs, people are becoming quite concerned with his campaign. 

I, Indeed, have some worries about his ability to lead the country, if he cannot make judgement calls, as simple as that one.

More from the Story:

The topic is clearly uncomfortable for Obama and his aides, personally and politically. Axelrod’s comments came only after prodding from a reporter and after he had initially suggested that Wright’s absence that day was due merely to the fact that the temperature was in the single digits.

And even as Obama has condemned some of Wright’s rhetoric and distanced himself from his longtime spiritual advisor, doing so has not been easy.  Wright remained on an African American religious advisory committee for the campaign until Friday.

“Rev. Wright married him, introduced him, as he said, to the church, brought him into the church, into Christianity, baptized his children,” Axelrod said.  “So this is a painful thing for him because he condemns the things Rev. Wright said, but he also knows him as a person.”

I’m sorry, but that is not a good enough excuse for me. I am not buying it, nor am I not buying the story, that he did not know about the sermons that the Networks have been playing, I think he knew full well, but never thought that they would get picked up by the news people. Which tells me, that he did not really think this through.

I look for Obama’s campaign to tank here in the next few months and Hillary get the Nomination. Because I have been reading the Blogs and there is quite a bit of "buyers Remorse" amongst the Liberals.

It should be very interesting, indeed.

Others: TalkLeft, FREEDOM EDEN, Taylor Marsh, Telegraph, Bang the Drum and The Huffington Post and More via Memeorandum

Oy…. New Jersey Style!

 So much for the Naive wife thing!

McGreevey aide says he had sexual trysts with ex-governor, wife – (via NJ.com)

Quote:

A former aide to James E. McGreevey said today that he had three-way sexual trysts with the former governor and his wife before he took office, challenging Dina Matos McGreevey’s assertion that she was naive about her husband’s sexual exploits.

The aide, Theodore Pedersen, said he and the couple even had a nickname for the weekly romps, from 1999 to 2001, that typically began with dinner at T.G.I. Friday’s and ended with a threesome at McGreevey’s condo in Woodbridge.

They called them "Friday Night Specials," according to Pedersen.

Pedersen described the encounters during an interview with The Star-Ledger. He said he wanted to refute the innocent image that Matos McGreevey has projected – both during the couple’s ongoing divorce battle and in interviews she gave after New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned last week in a sex scandal. He said he was also incensed by her portrayal of herself as an unsuspecting wife in her book: "Silent Partner: A Memoir of My Marriage."

Friday Night Specials eh? Wow……Just Wow. So much for the Naive Wife. I suspect many people will be wanting their money back for the book that she wrote.

Wow, We aren’t even out the Primaries yet and the craziness is really getting….well, Crazy.

Others: The Corner, The Daily Dish, Gateway Pundit, The Other McCain and Pam’s House Blend (H/T Memeorandum)

A Very Funny Song and Video

At least, I think so anyway…

Via Huffpo:

Kiss The Ring

There’s a space at the table for everyone
From the crackpot fringe to the favorite sons, bring them in
Bow down and kiss the ring
Cozy up to the zealots and disown their quotes
From the hellfire preachers to the talk show hosts bickering
Kiss kiss, kiss the ring

Sign all the checks to the bottom of the deck
if it deals you a hand you can win
And I know it’s just as well that a special place in hell
it can wait if they can help you get in
The purple hearts and silver stars that got you where you are
No they won’t add up to a thing
‘Cause all the guards on patrol in the circles that you roll
Will never ever let you make it anywhere unless you kiss the ring
Kiss the ring

Peeling off the cover of the old façade
If you can’t beat them then give them a job, yes it’s odd
The very same thugs that did you in
There’s a reputation that you might’ve once deserved
Before the Straight Talk Express hit Dead Man’s Curve
Even though I never agreed with you on much of anything

Put the bus in reverse as your principles disperse
And let the big games begin
Say goodbye to your code as you move on down the road
It won’t do shit for you from here on in
The purple hearts and silver stars that got you where you are
No they won’t add up to a thing
So Senator, it’s time, let them kick you down the line
I hope that you don’t mind the taste of metal ’cause it’s time to kiss the ring
Kiss the wrong

I’m crossing your name off the list of people I respect but still disagree
If you expand your ranks to the likes of them it’ll never include the likes of m
Of course I want you to lose, but maybe just maybe with some dignity
But it don’t matter much how you do it, as long as you do
It’ll be just fine with me

Sign all the checks to the bottom of the deck
if it deals you a hand you can win
And I know it’s just as well that a special place in hell
it can wait if they can help you get in
The purple hearts and silver stars that got you where you are
No they won’t add up to a thing
‘Cause all the guards on patrol in the circles that you roll
Will never ever let you make it anywhere unless you kiss the ring
Kiss the ring

I’m right of center, and I think that’s downright funny. Rolling on the floor

Obama’s Church sobs, "They’re picking on us!"

 Oh, this is rich…….

Obama’s church accuses media of character assassination (via Politico.com)

The stupid statement quote of the day….:

Chicago, Ill. (March 15, 2008) — Nearly three weeks before the 40th commemorative anniversary of the murder of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.’s character is being assassinated in the public sphere because he has preached a social gospel on behalf of oppressed women, children and men in America and around the globe.

“Dr. Wright has preached 207,792 minutes on Sunday for the past 36 years at Trinity United Church of Christ. This does not include weekday worship services, revivals and preaching engagements across America and around the globe, to ecumenical and interfaith communities. It is an indictment on Dr. Wright’s ministerial legacy to present his global ministry within a 15- or 30-second sound bite,” said the Reverend Otis Moss III, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ.

During the 36-year pastorate of Dr. Wright, Trinity United Church of Christ has grown from 87 to 8,000 members. It is the largest congregation in the United Church of Christ (UCC) denomination.

“It saddens me to see news stories reporting such a caricature of a congregation that has been such a blessing to the UCC’s Wider Church mission,” said the Rev. John H. Thomas, UCC general minister and president, in a released statement. “ … It’s time for us to say ‘No’ to these attacks and declare that we will not allow anyone to undermine or destroy the ministries of any of our congregations in order to serve their own narrow political or ideological ends.”

Trinity United Church of Christ’s ministry is inclusive and global. The following ministries have been developed under Dr. Wright’s ministerial tutelage for social justice: assisted living facilities for senior citizens, day care for children, pastoral care and counseling, health care, ministries for persons living with HIV/AIDS, hospice training, prison ministry, scholarships for thousands of students to attend historically black colleges, youth ministries, tutorial and computer programs, a church library, domestic violence programs and scholarships and fellowships for women and men attending seminary.

Moss added, “The African American Church was born out of the crucible of slavery and the legacy of prophetic African American preachers since slavery has been and continues to heal broken marginalized victims of social and economic injustices. This is an attack on the legacy of the African American Church which led and continues to lead the fight for human rights in America and around the world.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached the Christian tenet, “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Before Dr. King was murdered on April 4, 1968, he preached, “The 11 o’clock hour is the most segregated hour in America.” Forty years later, the African American Church community continues to face bomb threats, death threats, and their ministers’ characters are assassinated because they teach and preach prophetic social concerns for social justice. Sunday is still the most segregated hour in America.

Oh Please…….Rolling Eyes

Make stupid statements, allow them to be recorded, have your most famous member run for President,  and then when the Media picks up some of the sermons, that sounds, quite frankly, Anti-American and when this shown to America. You pull the race card. How convenient.

….And we want to elect this man President????

Give me a break!

Update: Juan Williams over at Fox News, of all places, is saying the SAME thing as me: (H/T Hotair.com)

Link: sevenload.com

Others: Hot Air, The Sundries Shack, Donklephant and Stop The ACLU and

more via Memeorandum

It has been Five Years…..

That’s right folks, Five years since this War began…. Unreal.

Looking Back at Five Years in Iraq (via New York Times)

FIVE years on, it seems positively surreal.

On the evening of March 19, 2003, a small group of Western journalists had grandstand seats for the big event in Baghdad, the start of the full-scale American bombing of strategic targets in the Iraqi capital. We had forced a way through a bolted door at the top of an emergency staircase leading to the 21st-story roof of the Palestine Hotel, with a panoramic view of Saddam Hussein’s command complex across the Tigris River.

It has been five years it hardly seems conceivable. However, unfortunately, for the American people, it is a harsh reality of life. It has been five whole years, since the Bush Administration launched a preemptive strike against the sovereign nation of Iraq. This Strike, based upon bad, if not, outright false CIA intelligence. It was termed a “Slam Dunk,” by the then CIA Director George J. Tenet. Tenet resigned when this “Slam Dunk” turned out to be nothing more than a foul ball.

The thing that amazes me is the fact that the Bush Administration continues, to this day, to attempt to move the goalposts in regards to this so-called “War on Terror.” This is really, in all honesty, a case study exercise in fear mongering and Neo-Conservative Propaganda. Just ask Senator Barack Obama; he has been the victim of the fear mongering, and Republican Propaganda, all because of his racial and religious backgrounds. This information was mostly gleaned from white nationalist websites. This information was recycled, and revised to make it sound believable. It was and continues to be distributed by well meaning and very loyal people within the Republican Party and Conservatives who, quite frankly, just do not know any better.

The war however, is dragged on, all but forgotten by the mainstream media, because, I believe, they realized that people were just tired of hearing about the blood and carnage. The right wing camp, says that we are winning the war and that George W. Bush’s “Surge” is working. The reality is, that violence levels are back to down to what they were, before the civil war broke out between the two factions in Iraq. The Republicans call it progress, the rest of us that are still in touch with reality call it returning to pre-civil war levels. Some call it semantics; I prefer to call it a realist observation.

The toll of this war has been more than just physical, more than just dead bodies, although, that is a great part of it, lives ruined, lives lost, families devastated, it is quite the sad affair. However, there is a greater loss, our nation’s economy. A good friend of mine, Matt Gacht, is an auto mechanic; he specializes in working on Hummers. Since this war started, business has been bad, horribly bad. He also has a side business; he does electrical wiring in racecars. Since this war started, the cost of electrical wire has skyrocketed. It does cut into his profit margin. He would raise his rates, but if he does that, he cannot remain competitive. He is not the only person in this business. There are others in the business, people that have much more capital that he does, so, he has to be able to keep up with the big people. Sometimes, Matt Says, he feels like banging his head against the wall, because he feels like he is trapped in a difficult situation. It is tough, but his customers like him, because he takes pride in his work and he is almost disturbingly thorough.

Because I am a balanced person, I can also make this observation. The plain fact of reality is this, if this country pulls out of Iraq too fast. The country will, in fact, fall into chaos. The far left adamantly refuses to believe or accept this and it is quite sad. However, I do not believe that continuing the President’s policy and course will be a wise decision. There needs to be a change, as to what kind of a change? That will have to be decided and hashed out. There will have to be some very tough decisions made. I just hope and yes, I do pray, that there will be some wisdom used, that decisions made based upon facts on the ground and not based upon political ideologies.

Others on this: The Belmont Club and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and more via memeorandum

You see, this is what happens when you don’t play the Neo-Con Game with Bush.

You get tied up and blindfolded like an animal.

Read the story over at the New York Times:

The Baiji refinery, with its distillation towers rising against the Hamrin Mountains, may be the most important industrial site in the Sunni Arab-dominated regions of Iraq. On a good day, 500 tanker trucks will leave the refinery filled with fuel with a street value of $10 million.

The sea of oil under Iraq is supposed to rebuild the nation, then make it prosper. But at least one-third, and possibly much more, of the fuel from Iraq’s largest refinery here is diverted to the black market, according to American military officials. Tankers are hijacked, drivers are bribed, papers are forged and meters are manipulated — and some of the earnings go to insurgents who are still killing more than 100 Iraqis a week.

“It’s the money pit of the insurgency,” said Capt. Joe Da Silva, who commands several platoons stationed at the refinery.

Five years after the war in Iraq began, the insurgency remains a lethal force. The steady flow of cash is one reason, even as the American troop buildup and the recruitment of former insurgents to American-backed militias have helped push the number of attacks down to 2005 levels.

In fact, money, far more than jihadist ideology, is a crucial motivation for a majority of Sunni insurgents, according to American officers in some Sunni provinces and other military officials in Iraq who have reviewed detainee surveys and other intelligence on the insurgency.

Yeah, them Neo-Conservative, Rockefeller-type, Republicans wouldn’t want those pesky jihadists tapping into their oil profits.

You see, we went into that country, based on totally false intelligence, and now the people that don’t think we belong there. The jihadists, who want to defend their land, is now getting their money supply cut off. Do I defend the one’s who blow up our troops? Hell No. But I am realist, that says, if we’d attacked the RIGHT DAMN COUNTRY IN THE FIRST FUCKING PLACE, we wouldn’t be in this situation.

In case anyone forgot, there was a report this week, that said, despite what the feckless, idiot, bastards on the far right want to believe, that there were NO OPERATIONAL ties between Saddam and Al-Qaeda.

Like I’ve said before, we need change, badly. November 2008 cannot came fast enough for me.

Hillary tries to stall Texas Democrat Convention…

She’s loosing her ass in the Primaries in Texas, So, she wants to stall…

The Story:

Clinton campaign wants Texas to postpone party conventions (via Dallas Morning News)

Quote:

As final results from the Texas Democratic caucus remain unknown, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign wants signatures from the March 4 contest verified before party conventions are held around the state later this month.

In a letter sent to the state Democratic Party late Friday, the Clinton campaign requests the March 29 count and state Senate district conventions be postponed until the eligibility of an estimated 1 million caucus-goers are double checked.

The Clinton campaign wrote they received more than 2,000 complaints of violations following the historic Texas turnout, which was perhaps the nation’s largest caucus ever.

With about 41 percent of precinct caucuses reported, rival Barack Obama was ahead with 56 percent to Clinton’s 44 percent.

"It is the Party’s responsibility to ensure the integrity of the precinct convention process by making sure that the Rules were followed," the letter states.

The letter came after the Clinton campaign said party officials told them this week it would not verify the eligibility of all caucus-goers before March 29. The county and district caucuses will whittle down the delegates before the state convention in June, when the final delegate count for the Texas caucus will be known.

Texas Democratic Party spokesman Hector Nieto said Saturday the party has not yet had the opportunity to make any decisions on the Clinton campaign’s request.

"We’re not surprised Senator Clinton’s campaign has engaged with their attorney, but right now the TDP remains extremely pleased by the record-breaking turnout," Nieto said – Read More

Unbelievable and quite disgusting. I happened to be listening to Stephanie Miller’s radio show, and they had a lady caller the week those primaries went down, and the lady proceeded to tell about how the Hillary supporters were trying to bulldoze the precincts down there. The lady also said, that if Hillary won the Nomination that she would not vote for her.

I mean, it’s pretty damn sad, when someone who knows damn well she’s losing, would try and stall the process.  It shows just how ruthless this woman is, and it is very much going back on her word, that she believes in the election system, and now is trying to fix the process, in her favor. Why not just accept the fact that you lost and move on?

The woman knows no limits. Just ask Peter F. Paul.

A couple good videos that everyone should watch:

 

Others on this: GregsOpinion.com, Burnt Orange Report and Centerpoint Review and more via Memeorandum

Obama Beats Hillary in Iowa Delegates

Ouch! That’ll leave a mark….. Doh

Via Ben Smith’s Blog – Politico.com:

A pretty stunning gain out of Iowa for Obama, where an Iowa Democratic official confirmed to me just now that the county convention results will translate into a 25-14-6 edge for Obama over Clinton and Edwards.

That’s a gain of nine  for the Illinois Senator over the results reported in January, while Clinton lost one delegate. (Edwards lost eight).

It’s a welcome — and meaningful — gain for Obama on a tough weekend, and a result both of his long, hard work in Iowa and of a situation in which Clinton’s attacks seem to be turning off party activists.

Let’s see Hillary try and spin that one. But knowing her, like I do, she will try and put some sort of silly Political Spin on it.

This should be an interesting story to follow.

Others: D-Day, Eschaton, The Jed Report and The Page and more via Memeorandum

HUH?!?!… Writers Strike……at DailyKOS?

I know, that’s what I said too.

Yes sir, It seems that the Pro-Hillary people over at DailyKOS are not happy with the Blog’s Pro-Obama Coverage.

Quote:

This is an open letter to the progressive Blogosphere…

I’ve been posting at DailyKos for nearly 4 years now and started writing diaries in support of Hillary Clinton back in June of last year.  Over the past few months I’ve noticed that things have become progressively more abusive toward my candidate and her supporters.

I’ve put up with the abuse and anger because I’ve always believed in what our on-line community has tried to accomplish in this world.  No more.  DailyKos is not the site it once was thanks to the abusive nature of certain members of our community. 

I’ve decided to go on "strike" and will refrain from posting here as long as the administrators allow the more disruptive members of our community to trash Hillary Clinton and distort her record without any fear of consequence or retribution.  I will not be posting at DailyKos effective immediately.  I will not help drive up traffic or page-hits as long as my candidate – a good and fine DEMOCRAT – is attacked in such a horrid and sexist manner not only by other diarists, but by several of those posting to the front page.

Of course the Owner of the DailyKOS is saying:

His response: "First, these people should read up on the definition of ‘strike.’ What they’re doing is a ‘boycott.’ But whatever they call it, I think it’s great. It’s a big Internet, so I hope they find what they’re looking for."

Of course, he might not feel the same way, if his advertising revenue goes down.

The digital equivalent of taking your ball and going home. How quaint.

Others: The Caucus, Don Surber, Political Punch, Centerpoint Review, NYCweboy, The Mahablog, BlueOregon, Pat Dollard, The Confluence, Political Byline, Sister Toldjah, JammieWearingFool and skippy the bush kangaroo and More via Memeornadum

Saturday Short takes

I am going to be away from the Computer and Blog, and basically news coverage for the rest of the afternoon.

So, here are your Saturday Political and News Short takes…..

Chick that was being "Pimped Out" to Governor of New York, is now mad because her photos got out to the press.

Obama Pastor-Gate continues on Saturday, I can’t believe people are still writing about this.

Living proof that far right wingers should not drive cars, Much less write Blogs and magazine articles.

A fine example of the legal system being abused…..in DAKAR.

There is progress in Iraq, or as this guy puts it, "The Surge is Working"… Some disagree, But I digress. Funny thing is, they put this story on page A13 in the Washington Post.

The Michigan and Florida Delegate-Gate Battle Continues. 

The House votes to tell President George W. Bush to kiss their collective backsides, in regards to telecom immunity. 

Oh Yeah and Obama Resko-Gate Continues as well.

These stories and more are available over on the best source for the pulse of the Blogosphere, and that’s Memeorandum.com

See you all either Tomorrow or much later tonight.

Breaking News: Controversial Minister leaves Obama campaign

This story in from MSNBC:

Minister leaves Obama campaign – Decision ’08- msnbc.com

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., condemned racially charged sermons by his former pastor Friday and urged Americans not to reject his presidential campaign because of “guilt by association.”

Obama’s campaign announced that the minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., had left its spiritual advisory committee after videotapes of his sermons again ignited fierce debate in news accounts and political blogs.

Obama did not clarify whether Wright volunteered to leave his African American Religious Leadership Committee, a loose group of supporters associated with the campaign, or whether the campaign asked him to leave.

 

Here is the Interview by Keith Olbermann, from Countdown on MSNBC:

 

No Transcript Available at this time, one will be posted when it becomes available at MSNBC’s site.

I think Obama has done a good job on dousing this fire. Keith Olbermann actually came in, on a day off to get this story and interview Obama himself, as to get the story straight.  That says much about Olbermann. I commend him for doing that.

Hopefully this will die down, Because I think it’s a little overblown, myself. However, realistically, I do know that some idiotic 527 group will try their best to "swiftboat", Obama on this issue. You can bet on that.

More on Obama’s Pastor-Gate

As I previously reported, Senator Barack Obama’s Pastor, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr has made some seriously flammable statements.

Well, the story has caught on like wildfire in the MSM. The Wall Street Journal, who is, by the way, owned by Rupert Murdock, An Republican Operative, has done a rather damaging piece on Barack’s Pastor.

True to form and very well done, Senator Barack Obama has issued a very well worded statement at the Huffington Post:

The pastor of my church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently preached his last sermon and is in the process of retiring, has touched off a firestorm over the last few days. He’s drawn attention as the result of some inflammatory and appalling remarks he made about our country, our politics, and my political opponents.

Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.

Because these particular statements by Rev. Wright are so contrary to my own life and beliefs, a number of people have legitimately raised questions about the nature of my relationship with Rev. Wright and my membership in the church. Let me therefore provide some context.

As I have written about in my books, I first joined Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago. I knew Rev. Wright as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine, as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the University of Chicago. He also led a diverse congregation that was and still is a pillar of the South Side and the entire city of Chicago. It’s a congregation that does not merely preach social justice but acts it out each day, through ministries ranging from housing the homeless to reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS.

Most importantly, Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he’s been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn.

The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church.

Let me repeat what I’ve said earlier. All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this country.

With Rev. Wright’s retirement and the ascension of my new pastor, Rev. Otis Moss, III, Michelle and I look forward to continuing a relationship with a church that has done so much good. And while Rev. Wright’s statements have pained and angered me, I believe that Americans will judge me not on the basis of what someone else said, but on the basis of who I am and what I believe in; on my values, judgment and experience to be President of the United States.

I also overheard on MSNBC, Chris Matthews said that Senator Barack Obama will be appearing on Keith Olbermann’s Show Countdown to give his side of the Story.

I do truly hope that this douses the fire on this rather silly story. Because it does seem to be a bit overblown and it does show the hypocrisy of the MSM. Because in case anyone has forgotten, Senator John McCain was endorsed by Baptist Minister John Hagee and Pentecostal Pastor Rod Parsley. Both of which have been quoted making anti-Islamic statements. But yet, Obama is getting the "White Glove" treatment? I just wonder, is there a racial bias amongst the Main Stream Media?

Further, could it be that the Jewish owned, financed, and backed Main stream media has it out for this Black Christian, whom they feel might be a threat to their way of life? Before anyone accuses me of being anti-Semitic, it is a fact, that if the corporate controlled media decides to make you the new story, it can ruin you. it is also a fact that most of the networks are Jewish owned, controlled and financed. It is not anti-Semitic to ask such questions.

Update: I guess I should point out that John McCain is simply distantly associated with Parsley and Hagee. However, Barack Obama is a MEMBER of this Church, The man married him and his wife and baptized his children, so, it is more than just a casual association, Senator Obama is directly associated with him.  This is why this story is so huge and why the Conservatives and some liberals are up in arms about it.

There are other Bloggers in on this discussion, here’s the one’s that I choose to link to: Washington Wire, The New Republic, The Swamp, The Jawa Report, The Sleuth, The Opinionator, Hot Air, American Street, TPM Election Central, Obsidian Wings, Donklephant, The Caucus and The Page, American Power, Confederate Yankee, Little Green Footballs, A Blog For All, Riehl World View, Hot Air, Gawker, The Field, Dick Polman’s American Debate, Reasoned Audacity, Hugh Hewitt’s TownHall Blog, NO QUARTER, ABCNEWS, Macsmind, Attytood, The Strata-Sphere, Centerpoint Review, BizzyBlog, QandO, Firedoglake, JammieWearingFool, GINA COBB and PrestoPundit and More via Memeorandum

Detroit, Michigan’s mayor, A Case Study of Abject Stupidity.

 Check this out…

The Story: Mayor’s Office Defends Use of ‘N-Word’ (via WXYZ.COM)

STATEMENT FROM MAYOR’S OFFICE…
The Mayor acted with courage and conviction in making the public aware of the threats against his life and the lives of his wife and children.  He did so for no other reason than to rebuke the bigots and hate mongers who issued the threats.  As he said in his address; “we must turn to each other, and not on each other.” 
It is not the Mayor who has resurrected the n-word, nor is it the Mayor who inserted race into the discussion. 
The people who are responsible are those who sent the despicable emails, letters, and telephone calls, all of which use the n-word in describing the Mayor and his family.  We urge those criticizing the Mayor regarding this issue to focus their condemnation on those who spewed the hatred rather than the victim of the hatred.
Denise Tolliver
Press Secretary
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

This is a full glimpse into the idiotic logic of the Mayor of Detroit.

"They called me a Nigger first, I just repeated the term."

What an idiot.

Live by Identity Politics, Die by Identity Politics.

What is it?

identity politics
n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)

Political attitudes or positions that focus on the concerns of social groups identified mainly on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation: “However, identity politics, whether in the guise of nationalism, feminism, or some other form of political expression is on the defensive these days” (Clarence Lusane).

 

The point I am trying to make is. This man is joke of a Mayor. He will forever be remembered as the Mayor of Detroit, who could not keep his penis in his pants or for his wife. Who was absolutely corrupt and when confronted, he played the race card……towards his own people. 

Quite a Legacy, No Doubt. 

Barack Obama is not a Covert Muslim….It’s Worse…

He’s a Black Nationalist…….or at least his Pastor is.

This is seriously not good, at all.

The story via ABC News:

Sen. Barack Obama’s pastor says blacks should not sing "God Bless America" but "God damn America."

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s pastor for the last 20 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago’s south side, has a long history of what even Obama’s campaign aides concede is "inflammatory rhetoric," including the assertion that the United States brought on the 9/11 attacks with its own "terrorism."

In a campaign appearance earlier this month, Sen. Obama said, "I don’t think my church is actually particularly controversial." He said Rev. Wright "is like an old uncle who says things I don’t always agree with," telling a Jewish group that everyone has someone like that in their family.

Rev. Wright married Obama and his wife Michelle, baptized their two daughters and is credited by Obama for the title of his book, "The Audacity of Hope."

Video:

Money Quote:

JEREMIAH WRIGHT: "The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law, and then wants us to sing God Bless America? No, no, no! Not God bless America. God damn America! It’s in the Bible, for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating its citizens as less than human!"

This could be possibly deadly for Obama’s Campaign. If people fear this man, and know Obama is connected to him, they will not vote for him.

Whether the Liberals want to hear this or not, White people are going to see this, and quite frankly, freak out. Honestly? It kind of freaks me out.

The only way that Obama might be able to deflect this sort of thing, will be to sever ties with that Church, totally. I highly doubt that this will happen, because that would be going against his own people. I mean, that would be the equivalent of John McCain severing ties with his own Mother. It just isn’t going to happen. Passions run deep among the black community.

So, who is to blame for this vicious Black Nationalism? Our white forefathers. Whether the Conservatives want to hear it, or not. How? When you import a race of people as slaves and keep them as slaves, like we did, and treat them as sub-par human beings, like the United States did, for many, many years, this sort of thing fosters and it has been fostering for many years.

Obama’s Pastor’s faulty interpretation of the Bible aside, His rage and rhetoric are legit, and the United States dirty past is responsible for this. What will stop it? Nothing. The damage has been done, you cannot undo what people have done, the rage and bitterness in the black community is still there, it will always be there. The United States fickle attitude towards slavery and mistreatment toward blacks, in the south, is the reason for this.

Others: The Moderate Voice, michellemalkin.com, Instapundit.com, TownHall Blog, Little Green Footballs, Outside The Beltway, The Corner, NO QUARTER, The Carpetbagger Report, Oliver Willis, Once Upon a Time, Sweetness & Light, Confederate Yankee, Riehl World View, American Spectator, Pat Dollard, Taylor Marsh, PunditGuy, Sister Toldjah, PrestoPundit, Hot Air, Balloon Juice, A Blog For All, Macsmind, The Campaign Spot, Gateway Pundit, Maggie’s Farm, Cold Fury, USS Neverdock, The Mahatma X Files and INSTAPUTZ (and More via Memeorandum)

Speak for yourself, idiot libber….

Now this here, is the type of people that I totally detest. Angry

Commentary: Why I Don’t Support the Troops (via Berkeley Daily Planet)

In the recent political battle around the Marine recruiting station in Berkeley there has been much confusion around the concept or slogan of “supporting the troops,” but opposing the unjust wars of the Bush regime. Many who oppose the Bush regime wars also say they “support the troops.” Let me say it straight out—I do not support the troops and neither should you. It is objectively impossible to support the troops of the imperialist military forces of the U.S. and at the same time oppose the wars in which they fight.

This idiot ought to be arrested and tried for treason. These are the one’s that the Far right are talking about. "Imperialist Military Forces", kiss my behind! Damn Liberal twit.

I see why they use the term "Moonbat" to describe these idiots.

Don’t like the country? Get the hell out and live in Russia or better yet, Iran. They’d love you there.

Others: Right Wing News

(H/T Memeorandum)

The Story that GWB wishes the world would forget about….

I must confess, I find this most funny. Hee hee 

Pentagon Report on Saddam’s Iraq Censored? (via Rapid Report)

ABC News’ Jonathan Karl Reports: The Bush Administration apparently does not want a U.S. military study that found no direct connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda to get any attention.  This morning, the Pentagon cancelled plans to send out a press release announcing the report’s release and will no longer make the report available online.
The report was to be posted on the Joint Forces Command website this afternoon, followed by a background briefing with the authors.  No more.  The report will be made available only to those who ask for it, and it will be sent via U.S. mail from Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia. 
It won’t be emailed to reporters and it won’t be posted online.

Asked why the report would not be posted online and could not be emailed, the spokesman for Joint Forces Command said: "We’re making the report available to anyone who wishes to have it, and we’ll send it out via CD in the mail."
Another Pentagon official said initial press reports on the study made it "too politically sensitive."

I would guess so, this is like red meat for the left.

If you think that the Democrats won’t use this, for campaign purposes come November, You’re crazy.

Others: Hullabaloo, Donklephant, News Hounds, TPMMuckraker, democracyarsenal.org, The Newshoggers, Liberal Values, Talking Points Memo, Bang the Drum, The Carpetbagger Report and The Washington Independent

The 22 Year old, who brought down New York’s Governor

Wild….

Ashley Alexandra Dupre

Ashley Alexandra Dupre – Woman at the Center of Eliot Spitzer’s Downfall (via New York Times)

She left a broken home on the Jersey Shore at 17 and came to New York City to work the nightclubs as a rhythm and blues singer. Now, at 22, she is the unwitting, and as yet unseen, star of the seamy drama that is the downfall of Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York.

I partly feel sorry for this young lady.

I saw this story this morning on the wires and blogs, I started to just ignore it. But it’s news, I thought I’d say a few words. I thought about making a snarky comment, But that’s just too easy, she’s most likely going to be drug through the mud, by the MSM and some of the less forgiving Bloggers out there.

I guess I’m a sucker for a pretty face.

I can’t bring myself to say anything more than, hopefully she uses this as an opportunity to better herself. 

Others on this: Jossip, Newsweek, PoliGazette, Gothamist, TVNewser, PrawfsBlawg, ParaPundit, Gateway Pundit, On Deadline, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Gawker, Hot Air, Runnin’ Scared, Washington Wire, D-Day, Wonkette, Liberal Values, Connecting.the.Dots, Patterico’s Pontifications, Little Green Footballs, JammieWearingFool, Anne Schroeder’s Blogs, National Post, The Blotter, Spin Cycle, New York Post, Too Sense, AMERICAblog, Blogs of War, Lawyers, Guns and Money and American Street and more via Memeorandum