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Set the Tivo.
Looks like we've all got smears to fight.
There's enough to hit McCain on in America, with his Senate career. I don't need for anyone to doubt McCain's service in Vietnam. I know this isn't related to your article, but it's something I wanted to say.
Fair enough.
A truce offer: can we drop the "pill poppin piece on the side" bit? Little disrespectful, don't you think?
nope. not dropping it. As long as the attacks continue on Michelle Obama, it stays.
Alright.......
Whiteygate
http://www.theroot.com/id/46867
Still, if Limbaugh and his acolytes are so worried about being called out of their name, I suggest they take the hip-hop route of reclaiming and reframing a powerfully-painful word that has been used for centuries to denigrate and dominate, to persuade a people of their inferiority and the rightness of their oppression. Which, you know, "Whitey" did do.
Limbaugh should replace the final consonant with an "a" and turn the resulting word into a term of affection and brotherhood. Write a song, get a DJ and a mic, lay down some tracks.
Then, make sure to get it all on videotape.
I second this. ha
...................................
KBR Machinery Company had the Army over a barrel: if the Army refused to pay KBR's inflated bills (more than $1B in unjustified costs), KBR threatened to shut off payments to its subcontractors, which in turn would stop feeding the army in Iraq.
Of course, the fact that KBR was then a subsidiary of Halliburton didn't hurt its bargaining position either; the Halliburton board knew what it was doing when it gave Dick Cheney $80 million he wasn't contractually entitled to as he moved from its executive suite to the White House. But even a less-well-connected company would have had an intolerably powerful bargaining position vis-à-vis the army: the company could basically hold the troops hostage.
And KBR was able to squeeze more than money out of the Army; it also demanded and got high performance ratings, which helped it win a share of a contract for $150 billion just awarded for support functions in Iraq.
Hilzoy is right: time to de-privatize, or at least insist on always having a second source ready to take over, as any sane private company does when contracting out an essential function.
What a great issue for the Obama campaign!
Is there a 3rd option - like who cares?
What is PSD going to actually do? Does Obama have a VP choice completed? Did all those being considered agree to the hiring before they'd be considered?
The Clinton campaign really trashed her with the telenovela references. You'd think after 16 years she would've gotten a little more respect being that Hillpatine is such a champion of women. Does anyone consider it pandering?
Black people don't use "whitey." I have heard white people, white folks, the man, wonder bread, them, the people, white girl, white boy, crackas, cracka ass crackas, Josh & Molly (ok that was a code we used back in school lol), Ritz, Sardines, redneck, etc.
Never have I heard a black person outside of a 70s sitcom use "whitey."
It would have been more believeable if they claimed Michelle said "cracka assed crackas" from the pulpit.
As far as the Chinese skin color editorial, "Obama did not break the superiority complex of white people. On the contrary, his appearance strengthened the superiority complex of white people," I seriously doubt if Obama were Michelle's color or darker he would be the nominee. IMO the fact that he is biracial is comforting to many white people and allows them to excuse things like Rev. Wright in a way they wouldn't if he looked more like Michelle or his father.
It's novel and new, Obama's heritage, to white people. Not so much to blacks.
Unsafe to be Black and Female (call)
Unsafe to be Black and Female (response)
Question: Was the hiring of Patty Solis Doyle a positive or negative? Was it an 'insult' to Camp Clinton?
Is there a 3rd option - like who cares?
What is PSD going to actually do? Does Obama have a VP choice completed? Did all those being considered agree to the hiring before they'd be considered?
The Clinton campaign really trashed her with the telenovela references. You'd think after 16 years she would've gotten a little more respect being that Hillpatine is such a champion of women. Does anyone consider it pandering?
-----------------------------
I find it disturbing that the Clinton campaign found it necessary to trash her by claiming she was watching soap operas all day and trash Bill Richardson by claiming he was Judas, but they didn't have nothing to say about people like Mark Penn and Robert Reich.
I am SO sick of talking about the Clintons and their feelings.
EVERYTHING is a diss to the Clintons. EVERYONE is out to get the Clintons. NO ONE can make a decision without first consulting the Clintons. EVERYONE Betrayed the Clintons. It's the vast right-wing conspiracy. . . it's vast the left-wing blogger bias.
Enough already.
Obama WON...
Clinton LOST...
Obama can hire whomever the hell he wants. He doesn't have to answer to her.
Notice how no one ever asks. . . "did Obama diss the Edwards/Richardson/Biden/Dodd camps???"
That's because they're not as narcissistic, paranoid and entitled as the Clintons. Earth to the media: THE WORLD DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND THE CLINTONS!
The media is dead-set on driving this wedge between Clinton and Obama supporters. Obama's got a 20% lead among women voters, but the media is still looking for anything it can to start a fight.
While Obama's ' bi-racialness' definitely helped, if you saw him on the street, would you say, ' oh, that Brother is bi-racial'. Or, would you say, 'there goes a Brother'.
See, bi-racial Obama is decidedly darker than ' Black' Dark Sith Ford.
If you stood them, side by side, and asked the average Black person, which one is bi-racial, which one would be chosen?
I agree with you, Black folk with White family is nothing new to Black folk. That's how we went from what Western Africans look like, to the rainbow of colors that we have now. But, White folk don't want to talk about it.
I am SO sick of talking about the Clintons and their feelings.
EVERYTHING is a diss to the Clintons. EVERYONE is out to get the Clintons. NO ONE can make a decision without first consulting the Clintons. EVERYONE Betrayed the Clintons. It's the vast right-wing conspiracy. . . it's vast the left-wing blogger bias.
Enough already.
LOL
I hear ya. ROland Martin was hilarious today on this issue.
I never saw the tape. And I have no interest in defending the man.
But, on a similar note, I was shocked to learn that Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing was written about a 16 year old girl.
I just think it's interesting how talent and nostalgia can hide a lot of sins.
No, I would not say "Hmm, Obama is biracial" if I saw him on the street. I wouldn't say that about Alicia Keys or Halle Berry either.
And neither would most white people if they saw them on the street. But the biracial factor is a big part of the appeal to them, and a big source of confusion to them, too. JMO.
When the Rev. Wright situation was going on, nobody was really saying "Ah, but he's biracial," they were saying "We've got to find out if he secretly hates white people." He was black, then.
I remember looking at the "Letters to the Editor" page during that time period and most of the letters from angry white people described him as "black."
But now that everything is all good, he's "biracial" or "Half white, half black" again. They cannot understand why he self identifies as "black" when he could self identify as "biracial", why WOULDN'T he want to self identify as "biracial" instead of black?
IMO that's a part of the reason why they hate Michelle so much because Michelle is visibly black, he chose her, he chooses to self identify as black and therefore it's Michelle's fault he is "black."
I just think it's a funny observation that when things are down for him, he's "black," but when it's all good, he's "biracial."
Barack's dark lips (purple, as my mother is wont to call them) make him look Black like me. She liked Lou Rawls' purple lips, too.
::
America's racial legacy in short.
please. this obsession with recipes from the candidates' wives is starting to piss me off.
and then there's "recipegate," wherein those dutiful little cookie bakin' wives who don't come up with their own personal recipes are demeaned as cookie thieves. it's ridiculous, absurd.
The media is obsessed with the Clintons. The media is withdrawal. Since they Clintons aren't making public appearances, this is what their withdrawal symptoms look like.
Say. It. Again.
One of my favorite expressions for whites was "ofay". A phrase for someone with a white lover, "Jimmy got a little snow in their game" was also a favorite of mine.
I stopped using Whitey and Hunkie, when I stopped using N-word.
I don't like it.
It's interesting to see if you ask someone for a cookie recipe, what they come up with...and what it says about them.
Oh yes it does. Nicotine stains lips, teeth, fingertips and can cause a greyish cast to the skin.
TruthSeeker: know-it-all.
Don't worry, there's more than enough parents who are raising their sons and daughters to answer the nation's call to service when they're old enough to do so.
I'm one of them.
We don't need Alex. And we don't need parents who will allow their children to be used for political posturing.
Lance Armstrong is on, and he hugs Whoopi a little long. Whoopi says teasingly "Sit yo ass down". Barbara frostily looks her nose down and says to Whoopi "A little respect please". Lance says that he and Whoopi go back a ways (hooray Lance!). Whoopi responds that she absolutely does respect Lance...
There's Barbara, with her phony smile, legs crossed attempting to appear respectable and in control. Too bad she didn't try that when she was f*cking somebody else's husband ...a black man, then came back years later to make money off the story in her insipid book.
I watch, 'cause I keep hoping one day, Whoopi knocks her lights out.
I remember looking at the "Letters to the Editor" page during that time period and most of the letters from angry white people described him as "black."
But now that everything is all good, he's "biracial" or "Half white, half black" again. They cannot understand why he self identifies as "black" when he could self identify as "biracial", why WOULDN'T he want to self identify as "biracial" instead of black?
This is a sticking point for a lot of White folk. I remember Tucker Carlson was beside himself on this point. I mean, who the hell would CHOOSE to identify as Black if they didn't have to?
You know what I'd like to ask White folk....why are YOU slapping in the face his mother and grandparents...they're White people...why do you doubt the job that they did raising him?
IMO that's a part of the reason why they hate Michelle so much because Michelle is visibly black, he chose her, he chooses to self identify as black and therefore it's Michelle's fault he is "black."
I can't agree with you enough on this...they can't even explain why Michelle bothers them so much. Of course, I'll always believe it's because she's a Darker Sista.A self-respecting Sista. They can't fathom him marrying her.
I keep on going back to that quote by yogo over on Skeptical Brotha from over a year ago. It was so on point, and true:
I like her. And not because of any strong this and that, she just seems genuine.
Is America ready for a First Lady who looks like her? A regular black woman? Not a passable biracial curly girl that they call black, but a regular black woman from the south side of Chicago? With dark skin?
Is she going to be the face of The Woman on the largest pedestal in the country? A self-confessed “loud-mouth” black woman?
If they succeed, it turns white supremacy upside down. And not, in my opinion, because a black man is in the White House, it’s because a black woman is in there. And she didn’t have to come in the back door to lie in bed with the president.
********
I just think it's a funny observation that when things are down for him, he's "black," but when it's all good, he's "biracial."
I know...hilarious.
Like I said town, you continue to be on point.
Nobody trusts this woman. Nobody. I know Obama doesn't.
Obama has large lead in Ohio
It's my observation that while smoking discolors and stains, it didn't darken Barack's lips.
His lips were dark in pictures as a young boy as well.
Could be the campaign's decision to pull her back. A mistake, I think.
The one thing whites don't understand about black women is their pride. They don't get how we can be confident and proud of who we are despite efforts to make us feel otherwise.
Yes, we know we're smart. Yes, we think ourselves beautiful and desirable. No, we don't agree that the blond is the epitome of beauty. Yes, we do have our own way of being.
Baracknaphobia
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=173522
::
Agreed. I love my farm. I raise my own meat, grow my own vegetables, freeze and can my own food. This year, we're growing more corn than ever in order to feed our chickens and make our own cornmeal. Corn-based feed has gone through the roof.
I'm about to learn how to grow and harvest our own wheat. It's labor intensive without all the machinery, but with the price of grain going through the roof....
She has to be more tense...nature of the campaign. I can't wait to see her on The View tomorrow. I know Whoopi and Sherri will be happy to see her. And, I think Joy likes her too. Only problem will be Elizabeth.
They pulled back for a bit, because they're about to go full throttle.I like that they've expanded her staff, and with true professionals looking out for her. This is it; the going for broke time. Campaign season is going into high gear.
growing your own food. You're a true jack-of-all-trades.
not mad at you. I respect folks with gardens.
On a conference call with reporters, McCain aide Randy Scheunemann continues to criticize Barack Obama's praise for criminal prosecution of the first World Trade Center bombers in the 1990s.
"They are very dangerous people ... they include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed," he said of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, going on to take a shot at Obama's political roots: "These aren’t just your run of the mill drug dealers that are picked up on the South Side of Chicago," he said, referring to the legal protection afforded criminal defendants.
See where this is going?
"Talismangate connects a bunch of dots from Obama to Rezko to a corrupt Iraqi minister. It may be that by comparison Ayers and Wright are small skeletons in Obama's closet."
Have you served in the armed forces?
And why are you posing as an African American?
The sad part is that many whites fell comfortable with Obama knowing that he is in their mind's "not really black". As much as I know you guys hate the BAR, Paul Street wrote an article on this and he was right. I didn't agree last year or even up to this February but I heard it for myself from the mouths of people who voiced it. I was shocked and taken a back. What if Obama was black on both sides?Whatever, that's our world.
Also, of course Obama was black when that whole debacle with his former church. Anything black is negative (its been like that for years). However when he won the nomination, the day after, CNN had to remind everyone that he was really biracial.
Of course that is their issue with Michelle and as much as they don't literally say it, all of the evidence points right down that alley.
My father was the jack-of-all-trades. He taught me how to garden and fish, how to sing and draw. And cook.
I learned how to raise animals for meat within the last 5 years. And there's nothing in the world better than a farm-fresh egg with its big old orange yolk. It doesn't even need seasoning.
When the JJP editors need a retreat in Maine, come to Annabessacook Farm!
"FOX Noise ( They call themselves FOX News ) refuses to fully report on Barack Obama and his Rezko scandal.
Here is a partial summary of the Rezko scandal.
Seventeen buildings many beset with code violations, including a lack of heat ended up in foreclosure.
Six buildings are currently boarded up.
Hundreds of the apartments are vacant, in need of major repairs.
Taxpayers have been stuck with millions in unpaid loans."
Obama's response:
Obama: I didn't know about Rezko problems
May I ask how you wound up in Maine?
Well I'll be damned...I had a good feeling about you Craig Hickman! It's pretty freakin' amazing to be self-sufficient like that.
Rikyrah,
I hope she doesn't relinquish too much of her true self. It is her greatest asset.
I'll say this again. Tony Rezko WILL be sending some politicians to jail.
Beginning with the Current Governor.
You right wingers are gonna have to accept that on the list of Rezko and POliticians, Obama is down, way down, on the list. He wasn't a Senator long enough to get into ' trouble' with Rezko.
Yep. 6 years Navy; did "Shock and Awe" in 2003 and a year in GTMO in 2005. Want my DD-214? ;)
As for your second question....I am African American, so it's kinda hard to "pose."
1. I'm a black man with a white mother
2. If I should walk out of here and hail a cab, the cabbie wouldn't say - there goes a mixed race guy
From Charlie Rose's 2006 interview:
3. Look Charlie, a few months ago, if I was standing in front of a restaurant and somebody was walking in, they would throw me their keys...
From his 60 minutes interview
4. He says when he walks around the South Side of Chicago, people see a black man...
From Michelle Obama in February:
She said she's not worried about her husband being assassinated, because as a black man he is more likely to be shot walking to the gas station.
In all of Barack's books, he self-identifies as a black man, because, even though he has a white mother, he is of African Ancestry, and historically in this country, he would be defined as black.
Furthermore, Obama knows that he doesn't have the luxury to identify as white because his outer features are those of a black man. So he is not one of the types that can seamlessly move from one ethnic group to another, say like a Rashida Jones(present day) or those who "passed as white" all those years ago for economic reasons, right?
I can imagine that based on his outer appearance, Obama must have a treasure trove of discrimination stories to tell. So, people like Obama and Halle Berry and many others don't waste time indulging the "bi-racial" crowd. Though, they acknowledge and understand their genetic racial complexities, they also understand the reality and power of their appearance.
Wouldn't it be absurd if every mixed-race person should walk around from childhood and say - hey, even though i look black, i'm not really black because my mother/father is white, so please don't treat me like a black person...Pleeeaaaase!
And by the way, will the "bi-racial" crowd stop pretending that being black/white mixed race person is the same as being, say, a Japanese/white mixed race person? I wish it wasn't so, but history is our guide...
I have broken down the people who feel more comfortable thinking of Obama as biracial into 3 groups but I wont post now, maybe if this topic comes up later I will...And I use "feel more comfortable, deliberately...
All of it is poppycock, really! As one 70 year old person from Alabama said - If they want to make the leap from black to biracial then they should also talk about all the white men who raped and impregnated our black women back in the day...Hence almost all African Americans are genetically bi-racial...I couldn't stop laughing.
Anyway, enough of this...
T.
Rhonda,
You crack me up, because this is THE TRUTH.
I mean, Obama wins the Nomination, and one of the first stories CNN is doing is ' Is he Black or Bi-racial?'
I was like, WTF?
DIdn't we already SETTLE THIS?
Don't remember any BI-RACIAL mess when Rev. Wright was going down. Don't remember any of it AT ALL.
Of course that is their issue with Michelle and as much as they don't literally say it, all of the evidence points right down that alley.
I know, which is why I really appreciated Michelle Obama Watch, because just reading the ' subtext' of the articles makes it plain as day. Having them all in one place, seeing the compilation of them, with the ' subtext' over and over....can't be a ' coincidence'.
As I've said before, when Isolated Incidents are Neither
ISOLATED
nor
INCIDENTAL
They form a pattern. Read those articles on Michelle Obama, and see the ' pattern' for yourself.
I fell in love with Portland, Maine the first time I visited it when I was in college in Boston.
In 2002, while still living in Boston, I rented an apartment in Portland in order to write a book.
When we found out what our house in Boston was worth later that summer, we decided to sell it. I never liked Boston anyway, even though I lived there for 16 years. We had been looking for vacation property in Maine, but decided to say what the fuck and move here, so long as we could have a place big enough to be a B&B.;
Here I am.
I still have to go the grocery store like everybody else, so I'm not entirely self-sufficient.
But there's nothing like raising your own food.
I know this sounds funny, but I've never hated The BAR or Black Commentator. I call them the Ultimate Obama Skeptics, but for some reason, I've never thought of them as Obama haters. Mainly because I know that they aren't shilling for anyone else, and I appreciate that. Plus, we need the revolutionaries out there, pushing things along. It's the only way we've been able to get things done for 'The Community' since the beginning in this country.
About Obama:
..During his eight years in the Illinois state Senate..
I love that part of the country (New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine), and if I believed that I could raise emotionally healthy Black children there, I'd live there in a heartbeat. I just don't know about the kids, ya know?
Have you confronted the kids issue?
Obama was in the State Senate, but he was far from any kind of Powerbroker in the State Senate.
Try again.
Maine is a foreign country, as far as I'm concerned. Sure there's racism, as there is everywhere, but there's no war on Black people.
The Black population in Maine is less than one percent, but most of it is comprised of first and second generation African immigrants, mostly from Somalia and the Sudan.
Maine also has a few Black families that go back centuries and were always free. Museums and galleries, especially in Portland, of African-American history and art are extraordinary. And there's an Underground Railroad presence in Maine that is funded by the state historical society.
There are so few gun crimes in Maine. People just don't shoot each other in this state. Homicide statistics are low, period.
Mainers are libertarians and communalists all at the same time.
Go figure.
That gene was strong.
In my family (immediate), there are both dark skin and light skin so this is familiar to me. My grandmother was either white or mixed. She says mixed, we think white. The story is she was given away at birth because she was the landowner's child and wasn't wanted around as a reminder.
I don't think there was ever any mixing of blood on my father's side other than his father's side and that was with Indians but not whites.
We even have light-bright children born to two dark-skinned parents.
Keystone Kondi's Kwazy Kwestions
As the End of Bush Days draws near, the desperation and insanity of the administration and its neoconservative policies become more and more apparent. One of the most recent examples is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's address to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on June 3, where she once and for all crossed over to the dark side and swore fealty to Lord Cheney's quest to start a shooting war with Iran.
With Horse's Caboose Condi hitched onto the Cheney train, can Armageddon be far behind?
Smart Girl
Condi was never part of the administration's policy team. She was the smart professor gal from Stanford who Cheney and Don Rumsfeld brought aboard to tutor the Bush kid in things like geography and history that he should have learned before he graduated from Yale and Harvard but didn't. Making her National Security Adviser gave her an excuse to be in meetings where she could whisper answers in Bush's ear (which is how he graduated from Yale and Harvard). Sticking Condi in the job also guaranteed Dick and Don wouldn't have to put up with a pesky NSA who actually wanted to influence foreign policy. When the time came to replace Colin Powell as Secretary of State, Condi was the perfect choice. They wouldn't have to cut her out of the decision loop they way they cut Powell out. Condi was never in the loop to begin with.
The Goebbels Brigade tried to make her seem like a real player on the world stage for a time. There was talk at one point of putting Condi up for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination. Rice 2008 urges John McCain to pick Condi as his running mate. At the "Run Condi Run" web site (moonfruit.com, really) you can donate to the organization and buy McCain/Rice 2008 bumper stickers and even order a Condi bobble head doll.
Rumors surfaced in summer of 2007 that suggested Condi and Cheney were locking horns over Iran policy. By October of that year though, when she told Congress that Iran was America's "single greatest challenge," it was clear that she was still Uncle Dick's good little girl.
Good Girl
In her June 3, 2008 speech to AIPAC, Condi began her verbal assault on Iran with the standard neoconservative misquote of a remark made by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Then she launched into a fabulist speculation on Iran's nuclear intentions.
Now, we hear Iran’s rulers say that they do not seek a nuclear weapon, only peaceful nuclear energy. Well, then why have they rejected the past offers from the international community for incentives, even cooperation on light water reactors? Why has Iran rejected, thus far, Russia’s offer of uranium enrichment in Russia? Why, as the IAEA’s most recent report shows, is Iran continuing to enrich uranium, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions? Why, as the IAEA also suggests, are parts of Iran’s nuclear program under the control of the Iranian military? And why is Iran continuing to deny international experts full access to its nuclear facilities? Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s just hard to imagine that there are innocent answers to these questions. (Applause.)
It's even harder to imagine that we could have a Secretary of State who possesses the intellectual sophistication of a slow child, and yet we do. Ms. Rice seems wholly oblivious to the nature of the competition among today's political entities; the struggle for control of the kind of power it takes to run industries and to transport goods and to transform entire regions of the world.
The international maneuvering revolves around who will control how fast the last of the planet's oil gets used, and how much the rest of us have to pay for it, and who gets to direct the world's transition to alternate energy sources. Hence, the real political leverage Iran has to gain from its nuclear program will come from a viable energy industry, not nuclear weapons. Possessing nuclear weapons would amount to little more than painting a bull's eye on its back. Using one would be tantamount to self-genocide; the retaliation would be the virtual end of the Persian race.
The "past offers from the international community for incentives" regarding cooperation on light water reactors or uranium enrichment performed in another country all involve making Iran dependent on other nations—nations the U.S. can control—in order for its energy industry to function. That's like telling the Iranians they can have a farm as long as they grows their crops in Iowa and use John Deere tractors and American labor and let us keep the seeds for next year, and if they're good little sand tics we'll let them buy some of their own food from us.
We don’t need the IAEA report to "suggest" that Iran is continuing to enrich uranium. Iran isn't keeping it a secret; it has flat out told the whole world it's continuing to enrich uranium. As a party to the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has an "inalienable right" to pursue production of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. For the UN Security Council to have passed a resolution denying Iran of an inalienable right makes the Security Council in violation of the NPT and the resolution itself illegal, so someone please explain to me how Iran is "in violation" of an illegal resolution.
The IAEA report does not suggest that "parts of Iran’s nuclear program [are] under the control of the Iranian military." It says that Iran needs to "clarify procurement and R&D; activities of military related institutes and companies that could be nuclear related." (Italics mine.) The distance between those two statements you could drive an armored division through. Military related industries are ideal for providing certain precision components for nuclear fuel refinery. Remember how those aluminum tubes Iraq was supposedly using for a uranium centrifuge turned out to be parts for artillery rockets?
The IAEA report states that in early April the Agency recently "requested Iran to provide, as a transparency measure, access to additional locations related, inter alia, to the manufacturing of centrifuges, R&D; on uranium enrichment, and uranium mining and milling." That's all pretty innocent stuff related to the kind of uranium enrichment we already know Iran is doing. Less than two months later, when the report was released, Iran hadn't gotten back to the Agency about taking it to those additional locations. That's not surprising; this was hardly a pressing matter.
A first semester political science student at the most obscure community college in America has sufficient imagination to arrive at these "innocent" conclusions. Why doesn’t our Secretary of State?
Doctor Ditz
Condoleezza Rice, Ph.D. is part of a diplomacy machine that's designed not to work. Demanding Iran give up its uranium enrichment program as a precondition to direct diplomatic talks was a head fake. Cheney's neocons made Iran an offer it couldn't accept; that way they could say they tried diplomacy even though they really didn't.
The goal of the Bush regime's foreign policy is to promote conflict, not avoid it. The neoconservatives desire nothing more ardently than to create a second Cold War with our old adversaries Russia and China, whose client state Iran is assuming the role of Eastern Europe. Rounding out the lineup for round two, Venezuela is stepping in for Cuba and Iraq is substituting for West Germany.
The neo-communists won't engage us in an arms race this time around. They'll let us be the ones who pour national treasure down a sand dune on fantastic weapons that can't win the kinds of wars we fight until we're bankrupt. One commonly hears these days that we're playing checkers and the Russians and Chinese are playing chess. A more ironically apt analogy is that they have graduated to duplicate bridge while we continue to play war.
Even more ironic is that we won the first Cold War because our economic model was superior, but in the second Cold War we're likely to find that the neocoms have become better capitalists than we are.
Commander Jeff Huber, U.S. Navy (Retired) writes at Pen and Sword .
People don't litter at all.
...................................John McCain has scammed the public campaign finance system that he purports to champion. Last February, the Washington Post, first reported on McCain's scam based on a "stern warning" to McCain from the Republican Chair of the FEC -- and noted the potential for criminal, yes criminal, behavior by McCain:
Knowingly violating the spending limit is a criminal offense that could put McCain at risk of stiff fines and up to five years in prison.
The DNC filed an FEC complaint against McCain over this issue, but there's basically been no FEC because of Mitch McConnell's political games. So, having waited the requisite time, the DNC is going to court:
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Tuesday announced it would file suit in federal court next week to force the Federal Election Commission to investigate Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).
The complaint alleges that McCain violated campaign finance laws by opting out of the federal matching fund program after already benefitting from it by using anticipated matching funds to secure a private loan. That assistance helped his campaign in the GOP primary.
The DNC had already filed a complaint with the FEC earlier this year when McCain withdrew from the program.
“John McCain poses as a reformer but when it comes to his own campaign, he thinks the rules apply to everyone but him,” said DNC Chairman Howard Dean. “Taxpayer dollars helped him secure a private loan to keep his campaign afloat, he got free ballot access which saved his campaign money and yet it’s clear he doesn’t think he needs to stick by the legally binding contract he signed. John McCain is breaking the law and doesn’t seem to care.”
I've visited your B&B; site before. It looks like a really peaceful place.
There's nothing like fresh vegetables from the garden; especially tomatoes.
My grandmother, who was from Tennesee canned vegetables and made chaow chow till the day she died right in the heart of the city
That gene was strong.
I agree Ms. Martin,
And, my family sounds like yours.
On my mother's side, my grandmother was Michelle Obama's color. My grandfather would be able to go into the ' Whites Only' section with no problem. I mean NO problem.
Between them, they had dark children, medium complected children, and my aunt, who could easily 'pass' for a Red Headed White Woman.
That's why I state the obvious: having White ancestors is something Black folk have accepted since the moment after we got off the slave ships.
Want to shut a White person up?
Calmly ask them:
You know what West Africans look like...right? Now, look at the Black community in America. We are the LEAST LIKELY to marry ' out'. So, explain to me how we went from what West Africans look like, to all the various shades that have now?
Look at them all confused to add to the drama.
BWA HA HA HA HA HA
T.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/roland-s.-martin-show%2C-wvon%2Fchicago
She's nasty today.
Chow chow.
You speak my language.
I put green tomatoes in mine.
What's Andrea talking about?
I was wrong.
WHAT?!?!
I thought she was "over it". She was talking like she had some sense for a minute there - even criticizing the Hillary camp.
I guess I was wrong also by giving her too much credit to soon!
Against Race Politics
Nothing but green tomatoes - she used to fry them for us too and she made homemade biscuits for my grandfather three times a day for each meal.
She took that chow chow recipe to her grave though so if you make me some I'll come and see ya!
I took an anthropology class and the first thing we discussed was how the population of Africa comprised of many 'looks' from the beginning: darker skin, lighter skin, body shapes, hair textures, eye color etc. It wasn't assimilation or intermingling that caused the variety because genetically we're the same - except for gender.
LOL at the View. I will lift my permanent ban to watch Michelle tomorrow but they all really pissed me off with their blatant and biased coverage during the primary. I'm not surprised by Barbara WaWa's behavior. She has always pandered to women of color - perhaps Oprah is the one exception.
One of the greatest directors/producers of our times is about to put the "STAR WARS" touch on our history. I got goosebumps y'all.
It appears that Andrea Mitchell and David Gergen do not like Obama turning the tables on the Clintons...as Hillary said herself, "if you can't stand da __cking heat, get out of the kitchen."
I heard David Gergen speaking last night about how hiring Solis-Doyle was a slap in the face to Clinton - as if he owes her some respect.
A lot of these folks in the poitical game aren't over the loss of the Clintons.
Andrea Mitchell tried to garner sympathy for Bill Clinton by saying he appeared to have been crying at some fundraiser she saw him at.
I'm irritated by them constantly trying to make the story about Hillary - STILL.
And when they're not doing that, they're trying to talk up McCain's foreign experience.
CNN kept showing pictures of the choir at the church where Obama was on father's day in the background while they talked about McCain and Iraq - it was a pathetic attempt to show him hanging out with black people while McCain was taking on the business of foreign policy.
I don't know Craig, if I saw the same clip you're talking about, but from what I saw she seemed really peeved at Obama hiring Solis Doyle! So, should Doyle never, ever work again?
Do women who support Hillary for supposedly feminist reasons ever ask themselves why Patti was fired? It looks to me like the big boys scapegoated her to save their own skins.
Surely the big boys tried to scapegoat her and toss her away, it was Mark Penn's strategy that failed Clinton, but she can't be mad at him because there's future money to be had there.
Whatever the case, it clear from the pictures of Solis-Doyle that there is pain there. Maybe someday she'll tell the story.
...................................PPP Poll: Obama Up Big in Ohio
A new Public Policy Polling survey finds Sen. Barack Obama begins the general election in Ohio with a double digit lead over John McCain, 50% to 39%.
It's a major improvement from most recent previous Ohio poll, taken at the height of the Jeremiah Wright controversy in March, which showed Obama trailing McCain 49% to 41%.
Bottom line: "The key difference for Obama is that he's got his party behind him to a much greater extent than he did then."
For better or for worse, the Clintons have left a long trail of bitter people in their wake...Barack is offering Hillary a "King Solomon Test"...
King Solomon Test - Two women claim to be the mother of the same child and yet one must ultimately decide what's in the best interest of the child or the baby dies...I'll refer you to wikipedia for more details...
Can Hillary make peace with her former campaign manager whom she unkindly "showed the door?"
Can Hillary make peace with all of the AAs who say they will never vote for her (even as a VP)?
Because if she can not make peace, any VP aspirations will be dead.
Ooh, I wish I had a church, I'd surely preach about this...it's easy to understand why Roland Martin was all over this...
Political junkies have to love this because it's so beautifully orchestrated in the best traditions of Machiavelli and Don Corleone...it gives us a hint to how Obama will deal with domestic politicians and global tyrants...He will "make offers that [people] can not refuse."
I love me some *O*
After reading Dreams From My Father and especially Audacity of Hope, I feel that Senator Obama is pretty consistent in how he approaches and thinks about issues. He's way more conservative in various areas than I am and probably than many people who support him.
In fact, I'll make a confession that so far no one but my girlfriend has understood (because she knows me pretty well): The only way I could get through The Audacity of Hope was to realize that I am actually not part of the "we" that Senator Obama assumes all "Americans" are part of, because I don't feel the world the way he assumes we all feel the world.
And related -- Reading that book I saw that I don't actually exist in his landscape. He has a perspective and spectrum that would try to place me into the "extremist" camp (I forget exactly what he calls it, I think he uses the word visionary also), which he has some grudging respect for as necessary sometimes, but really doesn't "get" fully.
But the thing is, his spectrum is on moderates and extremes and my landscape doesn't function around those categories. The camp that he would likely put me in isn't where I am in reality, because rigid and sometimes ungrounded ideology drives me nuts, and that is what I often find in those spaces.
So I don't exist in his landscape.
I know there have been recent and not-so-recent discussions of him pandering. There are for me two layers of what is going on:
1. The visible layer of politics -- for example, whether it is okay for him to do and say what he did and says (for example the discussion about the Father's Day speech)
2. The layer that is about alignment of words and actions -- for example whether what he did was pandering to white people for the purpose of getting votes, or if it reflected his actual real grounded perspective that is in fact in alignment with what white people would want to hear.
It hurts me to see how much that Father's Day speech hurt some of the people in the discussion yesterday.
The whole thing reminded me of the fact that he is so much more politically conservative in some ways than I am.
I think there are some kinds of change he is into and some he is not.
The thing that has gotten to me all along is that he feels internally honest to me -- aligned between what he is doing (running for president of this particular country, basically president of a pretty terrible empire), what he says, and what he believes. That for me is the basis of my support for him, and my support has been reluctant but strong over time.
I have had to separate my own disagreement with where he is coming from (a tension between that and myself) from seeing lack of alignment between his words and actions.
And in doing this but still supporting him and reflecting on what his candidacy says about the "we" that he is part of and understands so well (he defeated Hillary Clinton .... whoa), I have been moving toward some internal conclusions about justice and social change in this country that I can't even articulate right now because it hurts my heart too much right now to go there, and I can't believe that I would even consider such things let alone be moving toward believing them.
Sigh.
Barack is more conservative than many people realize. That's not necessarily why I support him, though I can admit that in some of the ways he's conservative, so am I.
Authenticity.
Sure, Barack is cocky. He accepts that about himself and carries himself accordingly.
But he is also humble. Most evident in his capability of admitting he fucks up. A lot.
In essence, he is human.
Politicians don't come across as human. We simply don't allow them to. But somehow, in some way, Barack has succeeded, so far, in encouraging us to embrace a human politician.
That is what makes him so inspiring. Really.
Which is why even his supporters can debate his humanity with such passion.
I tried to stop participating in the Father's Day debate, but I couldn't because we weren't just debating politics, we were debating human foibles in a way we don't usually debate human foibles when it comes to politicians.
I'm blabbering and probably not making much sense, but that is what your comment conjured.
http://firedoglake.com/2008/06/13/the-violent-crazies-are-gearing-up-for-obama/
http://www.blogher.com/what-do-black-canadians-think-about-obama
First, why in hell does a Canadian care? Something that I have thought to myself as I feel the heat rising from my chest to my face as I watch FOX news or Lou Dobbs on CNN. It's not about simply disagreeing with them; it is how some political pundits and TV journalists (and some bloggers) intentionally fan the racist and sexist flames to incite fear into socially and culturally ignorant voters by perpetrating falsities that if they had a even basic IQ level, they would realize that their claims don't make any sense. Examples: a) Barak Obama is not a Muslim - if that really even matters if he was, but the insinuation infers to the 9/11 terrorists whom yes, were Muslim but a radical sect of terrorists who just happened to be Muslim. Get it?
Or b) Reverend Wright - What's the big deal? Because some people really think that all black folks are secretly angry and planning to start a race war. See, we all think alike, and we all vote alike, some police officers think we all look alike and apparently, are not allowed to have an opinion that differs from what others feel we should feel and think.
Sigh. From Chandra at Is Greater Than:
Canada prides itself on an expression of multiculturalism that Americans only dream of. This is the legacy of the late great Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Yet, having spent seven years in academia in the USA, I have never seen academics behave as abominably when it comes to the topic of race as I have seen in Waterloo, the world’s Top Intelligent Community in 2007 and 70 miles southwest of Toronto, the second most diverse city in the world. From comments about “whining aboriginals who get away with too much” to “you Black people,” I continue to be shocked and even surprised. It has been pointed out to me repeatedly that all but one of the aggressors in my stories of racism in Canada have been European by birth, not just descent. This supposedly implies that this is not a Canadian problem but perhaps a European problem.
Despite having a rich African-Canadian history, it is my opinion that Black Canadians have always borrowed heavily from African-American culture. We carefully watch what is happening in terms of music, trends and yes, even political and social activism. Canada, despite what many people rather naively think is not the bastion of peacefulness. We have our problems, but here - and I think I can say this as I travel to the States quite frequently - our racism and sexism is covert in comparison to our neighbors - which in some ways, makes it even worse. Sometimes it doesn't pay to be so polite.
Even though we are live in another country, I found while talking to a number of people for the article, we are watching and we have formed an opinion on who we want to win. Despite the title of this post and despite the responses, not everyone was initially an Obamamaniac. Some were vying for John Edwards and some, like myself, really liked Dennis Kucinich . I wondered, what if any social, political or cultural changes Black Canadians might see if Obama does win the Presidency. Here are some outtakes:
(But) wasn’t Obama thinking about (the potential for an increase in overt racism and how his candidacy would be affected) before? Doesn’t / should he be thinking about the future?
You always have to weigh the pros and the cons. But you always have to look at what is good to you. We have never had a black man who has had a credible challenge before. It seems that he has a good shot in terms of delegates and fund raising. He is doing everything right. You have to ask yourself – what is the nature of citizenship? You are entitled to….How does it translate? A lot more Canadian blacks could run for political office. We might be seeing a huge change among the younger generation, as he has reached out to youth like nobody else has. He’s younger and looks young. And he will not be the youngest person but he is inspiring to the younger generation.
Do you think Black Canadians would volunteer to go down to the States and work on Obama's campaign - if they (legally) could?
I don’t think that a lot of Canadian black would go down to help with Obama’s campaign. I think it’s cute I think it’s funny and I think it’s silly. I think that Obama represents all of us. He is an immigrant – but he is not an immigrant, he has roots in Africa, he has other cultures in him he is American but on the other hand, he isn’t. I think that he represents all blacks but he also represents non-blacks, too.
Is it fair to think that an Obama presidency will be a positive influence among black youth? What about Canadians? (Okay I rephrased this a bit better during the interview)
“It will give (black youth) the self-respect and boost the image of the black community in the eyes of the country and in the world. At least I hope it will let people see that we can be more than gang-bangers and ‘ho’s!” Admitting that she is concerned more with American politics and Canadian politics because “I think what happens over there has a bigger impact on the world than what happens here,” she does not think that it will help in unifying the cultural differences that presently lie within the Black Canadian community. “There is not common experience. Black Canadians do not really have that one defining moment in their history. Whatever we experience here is just the byproduct of the African – American experience. Our clothing, the way we talk, the videos we watch – all these are based on the black American culture. Heck, you can’t even name a single leader in the community!”
What I believe, is Black Canadians have a vested interest in the outcome of this election because we realize this about racism: What happens to one person can ultimately happen to anyone who shares the same ethnicity. We also know that because of the 'monolitic' thought that even trumps sexism - more people think that blacks share the same mannerisms more than they think all women share the same emotional and intellectual attributes. We have experienced it, we have to acknowledge it, and more importantly, we know that what happens south of the border will eventually make it's way here.
Obama may be conservative in programs proposed, but he is not conservative in solutions desired; universal health care, living wages, meaningful work, peace, quality education, and equal opportunity. There is nothing conservative about these goals. Obama's moderation is in his willingness to use the tools loved by liberals or conservatives to reach progressive ends.
The ideological among us get stuck on the means; school vouchers, merit pay, subsidy, single payer, free enterprise, military power, and diplomacy, and do not reach the goals.
The USA is large, complicated, and with structure and precedents (history). We can not go to the best solution. We must go to the best solution available. This is the radical in Obama. He recognizes and articulates a future of health, prosperity, and peace and tells us we can get there without loosing our ideology.
The Marxist and Capitalist can both still be right, just not all the time and in every situation.
Michelle the things you mentioned have more to do with each other than you realize.
It is his real perspective which he spoke about during that speech which I and many share that have garnered him many white votes.
In the light of day, I will draw back from calling the speech pandering, IMO it was his reinforcing his positions to stave off the attempts to paint him too black an sympathetic to black (which in the America's opinion is bad - black is bad) in light of the recent attempts to paint Michelle angry an black.
So while it may not have been pandering, he did offer up what America sees as bad "black" behavior and denounce it to reassure white voters that he is neither that kind of black nor does he agree with that behavior. It's just too bad he approached it that way and left the rest of us out of it.
::
Is this snark?
Father as head of househould is about patriarchy. Patriarchy is conservative.
I'm not a patriarch, but I understand the importance of fathers.
That doesn't mean that I also believe a two-parent household must include a man.
But I'm not "liberal" enough to think that a positive male role model in a child's life isn't important.
It takes a village to raise a child. That village must be full of positive male role models. Certainly the father of that child, if available, needs to be close. That father, unless he's dead or unknown, needs to be close.
TheStar.com - living - Black, Canadian and rooting for Obama
May 12, 2008
Laina Dawes
Special to the Star
As a Canadian fixated on Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign, I have occasionally had twinges of guilt over my fascination with the political happenings across the border.
Recently a fit of rage led me to try to reach through my television set to choke a legendary CNN host during one of his usual thinly veiled racist tirades. After I regained my composure, I questioned my allegiance to Canada because of my anger over something happening in another country.
In my defence, the negative dynamics of race and gender that have emerged during the Democratic nomination battle are not only of interest to me as a social justice activist, but also because part of my livelihood is based on studying the issues. As a freelance journalist and editor for the "Race, Ethnicity & Culture" section for Blogher.com, I watch and read various reports daily and provide commentary.
Since the race for the nomination began last summer, there have been a number of racially tinged attacks by the Clinton campaign, media and political pundits. Despite Obama's achievements, they attempt to use racial stereotypes and sweeping generalizations to discredit his campaign. It's a disturbing reminder of how some will play the race card, despite boasting of their allegiance and history of support to the same racial demographic.
Some of the generalizations, such as the stereotype of the angry black militant being used against Obama, have been commonly employed to discredit other blacks.
Witnessing an all-too-familiar, below-the-belt racial punch angers me, but I wanted to find out if it affected other people geographically distant from the fight. I decided to ask black Torontonians their opinions on what social changes might occur for black Canadians if Obama goes on to become president.
Are we, as has been suggested by the media, a monolithic group, blindly supporting anyone because they are black? How does residing in a different country change our perspective, if at all?
More people than I expected are watching the primaries, following the debates and forming strong opinions. Public relations executive Gillian Moody feels Obama's race as a factor in his Canadian popularity is overblown.
"I think that black Canadians are secretly proud and fascinated, but they are not going to bring up race and talk about race in the way that American blacks and non-blacks bring it up. ... In general, I think that Canadians are more skeptical than Americans."
Aluba Kalu, a business development co-ordinator, is hopeful that a black president might help dissolve racial stereotypes, partly because of the popularity of American culture amongst black Canadian youth.
"Black Canadians do not really have that one defining moment in their history," she says. "Whatever we experience here is just the by-product of the African-American experience."
When I asked whether a black president might inspire more black youth to enter politics to Moody and Selwyn Pieters, a lawyer with his own firm in the financial district, they indicated I might be pushing it.
Moody believes Canada already has black Canadians in respected political positions and does not see why they would look to another country for inspiration. Pieters believes an Obama presidency might help in easing racial barriers to climbing the Bay Street corporate ladder. "There are a lot of Canadian businesses that do transnational and international transactions," he says. "If they do not start reflecting diversity, they will not create new business opportunities stateside."
"Barack represents many things, and one of the greatest is change," says Jane Musoke-Nteyafas, a writer, poet and cultural critic. "I believe that racism may improve in Canada, as he has already shattered several cultural and racial biases simply by showing that an African-American man of East African descent can run and be successful."
I fear that stupid prejudices could rob Americans of a president who could improve their lives.
Though it is too early for black Canadians to forecast how Obama's campaign will shape our future, all we can do is hope for the best.
Laina Dawes is a Toronto-based music journalist and editor for the Race, Ethnicity & Culture section for Blogher.com.
I'm with Rachael Maddow: that's either brilliant politicking or flatout foolishness.
Gov. Charlie Crist has flip-flopped with McCain.
Brilliant. Foolish. Not both.
What I am against is the overshadowing of the millions of amazing black fathers. The face of black fatherhood is absentee fathers and baby daddies...that is not right nor fair. This conversation is had all of the time. Why cant we celebrate real black fatherhood like all of the men in my family rather than giving attention to the negative. This gives the impression that black men cannot be fathers and that is not true.
I don't care about statistics because we are people not statistics. The statistics say on average that is about split 50/50 in regards to single family households. My cousin Stephen has a child with his ex-girlfriend. His son Cory lives with her. She is considered to be a single parent household however my cousin is in the picture. He is an amazing father who picks up his son every weekend, calls him several times a day, takes him out, takes him on vacations, provides for him and works two jobs in order to send him to a private school. He is 27.
The same thing goes for my roommate who even told me that she was considered to be a single family household but her father was there for her.
I know of the fact that too many drop the ball and neglect their children and responsibility as fathers. I will tell you that this goes on in other communities especially with out country's divorce rates. Children are falling through the cracks each day.
One of my close friend's parents got into a nasty divorce when she was young. She got caught in between her parents bitterness, hatred for each other and fighting. Her grandparents had to raise her. This has caused many long term emotional issues. She is white.
Blacks have a disportionate number in regards to single parent households in relation to theit numbers however. There are nearly five times as many single parent white households.
I would like someone to address this to all Americans not just blacks as if we are pathological and the poster children for everything dysfunctional.
I understand it COMPLETELY.
I just see it differently. And I see more to Barack's address than just some political pandering and harvesting votes off the backs of Black people, which I don't see at all.
I, however, am not going to judge those with a different opinion as mine as somehow myopic or in denial about the kind of politician Barack is.
We can disagree about that speech until doomsday.
I say let's just agree to disagree and move on unless or until Barack gives another one just like it.
ssuuurrRRRRRrre you don't, Obama.
Secondly, Senator Obama said he would always speak honestly, even when you don't want to hear it. That Father's Day speech was an example. To ALL the fathers out there taking care of your kids, congrats. You don't need the lecture. But to the large number of black men that DON'T raise their kids, that think paying child support here and there is some freakin gift to humanity, take his speech to heart and start raising your kids.
I was raised by a father that has loved me and supported me from the second I was concieved. He saw that speech and found nothing wrong with it. His day wasn't ruined by the speech. Like I said, if it's not you why do you have a problem with it? He's not calling ALL black men irresponsible. It's for those that need the message. When is he supposed to talk about this? Cinco de Mayo?
....................................Top Ten Signs You're a Fundamentalist Christian
10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.
9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.
8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.
7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees!
6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.
5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.
4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."
3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.
2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.
1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.
If you would bother to read, you'd know that leading up to 2008, Hillary was leading in the Black vote - not Obama.
Hillary.
Why?
Because Black folk had done the 'voting for symbolism's sake' in Presidential Politics in 1984 and 1988 with Jesse Jackson.
If it was a 'Black thing', then..
1. Why didn't Black folk support
Alan Keyes
Al Sharpton
Carol Moseley Braun
in droves?
2.Why wasn't Obama getting 90% of the Black vote February 11, 2007 (the day after he announced).
WHY?
Because Black folk are like everyone else...they wanted to go with a 'winner'.
When Iowa and New Hampshire (a Caucus and Primary) went the way that they did, Black folk went,
"Hey! He might actually HAVE A CHANCE!"
Now, with a VIABLE and Black candidate, the Black community was on board.
But, still, that only got Obama to the 70% mark.
The move from 70-90% is thanks to the racebaiting of Camp Billary.
Know your facts.
And, Obama said in that 60 Minutes interview, that if he doesn't make it, it won't be because he's Black (now, 'I' have issue with that), but the man said it and has said it on numerous occasions.
6:56 PM CDT, June 15, 2008
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Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Reprints Post comment Text size: CHICAGO - In a Father's Day address heavy with personal and political meaning, Democrat Barack Obama told worshipers at a Chicago church Sunday that government must do more to help families---but he also exhorted parents, especially fathers, to play their part by raising healthy children.
In a popular South Side church, Obama (D-Ill.) decried the shortage of police on the streets and money for schools, as well as a proliferation of guns in the wrong hands.
But America needs more than jobs and opportunity in its communities, the presidential candidate told the hometown congregation.
"We also need families to raise our children," he said. "We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child. It's the courage to raise one."
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Following the Senator's run Video
Barack Obama photos: The early years Photos Obama sounded a theme familiar from previous Father's Day speeches in which he called on fathers to rise to their duties.
But the story of fatherhood--never a simple one for Obama, abandoned by his own father when he was very young--was especially poignant on Sunday.
It came in the aftermath of a painful separation from Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., a father figure who, as Obama's longtime pastor, played a crucial role in his spiritual maturation as a young man. A few weeks ago, Obama publicly broke relations with Wright after controversy about the minister's strident sermons turned into a personal disagreement over their divergent views.
As the first stop in Obama's quest for a new religious home, Chicago's the Apostolic Church of God offered a symbolic new beginning.
Obama, who often speaks of a "Joshua generation" standing ready to take over the mantle of leadership from its civil rights forebears, stood in a pulpit that Bishop Arthur Brazier, who marched with Martin Luther King Jr., recently handed over to his son, Byron.
A month ago, as the Wright controversy unfolded painfully for Obama, the elder Brazier organized a gathering of black pastors in a show of support for him. Obama chose the Braziers' church as the place to revisit a key message of his campaign on Sunday.
"Of all the rocks upon which we build our lives, we are reminded today that family is the most important," Obama said. "And we are called to recognize and honor how critical every father is to that foundation."
But, "if we are honest with ourselves, we'll admit that too many fathers also are missing, missing from too many lives and too many homes.
"They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men," he said. "And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it."
The theme of fatherly responsibility is important for Obama, especially now that he is the presumed Democratic nominee for the White House. While his dogma is decidedly liberal, his talk about personal responsibility crafts an appeal to religious conservatives and political centrists.
And while he clearly aims the message at Americans of all races, he has chosen more than once to broadcast that message from black churches.
In his recent speech on race relations, Obama spoke of a historic lack of economic opportunity for black men and the "shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family," which he said contributed to the erosion of black families.
Welfare policies didn't help, he said at the time.
As he has in the past, Obama on Sunday preached about the individual's responsibility to leave that legacy behind.
Two weeks ago, Bishop Brazier, 86, who led the influential Pentecostal congregation for 48 years, handed his church to his only son, Rev. Byron Brazier, 58, a business executive who left the corporate world to follow in his father's footsteps.
As pastor, Bishop Brazier refused to speak politics at the pulpit. Nevertheless, his influence and clout became well-known in Chicago's political circles, and the church is now an obligatory campaign stop.
Similarly, although the bishop never spoke of Obama at the pulpit, it is widely known that he supports his candidacy.
In choosing to speak at Apostolic, Obama chose a somewhat more conservative church than Trinity United Church of Christ, where the senator from Illinois was a member until recently.
Both churches are on Chicago's South Side and are predominantly African-American congregations.
Trinity is part of the United Church of Christ, a liberal Protestant denomination that, for example, ordains gay ministers.
For decades, Apostolic Church of God had been part of the conservative Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. Though Bishop Brazier broke away from the PAW last year, his church is still solidly conservative when compared to Trinity.
Tribune religion reporter Margaret Ramirez contributed to this report.
It seems there is even more to the speech story.
BPM