- 60524628
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the infrastructure approaches and more information becomes available It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the infrastructure approaches and more information becomes available It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the infrastructure approaches and more information becomes available June 1 2001 wherein Pannenberg refers to Tipler as my friend and expresses general admiration of Tipler's daring proposition concerning the future of the universe as a beginning of the dialogue between scientists and theologians about the future of the universe Also available as
Totals To Date:
McCain - 216 Clinton - 199 Obama - 195
June 1 2001 wherein Pannenberg refers to Tipler as my friend and expresses general admiration of Tipler's daring proposition concerning the future of the universe as a beginning of the dialogue between scientists and theologians about the future of the universe Also available as June 1 2001 wherein Pannenberg refers to Tipler as my friend and expresses general admiration of Tipler's daring proposition concerning the future of the universe as a beginning of the dialogue between scientists and theologians about the future of the universe Also available as After the war the airfield reverted to RAF control and it came under Maintenance Command as a sub-site for bomb storage before being finally abandoned and sold in 1955 After the war the airfield reverted to RAF control and it came under Maintenance Command as a sub-site for bomb storage before being finally abandoned and sold in 1955
Vote Now and Get A Free Entry into the
Harley Road King Sweepstakes!
If you are interested in politics and agree that liberal positions should be resisted, I need your help! Our first big event will be held July 5. Let's take action and make a difference this election.
Contact me at info@moveontherightway.org. While you're at it, visit us at www.moveontherightway.org and get involved right away!
The estimated population of the United States is 303,982,636
so each citizen's share of this debt is $30,828.88.
The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$1.60 billion per day since September 28, 2007!
Concerned? Then tell Congress and the White House!
More than any other group, PNAC has exerted the greatest influence over the Bush administration with regard to foreign policy. In 1998, PNAC sent a letter to President Clinton (signed by the likes of Cheney, Rumsefeld, Wolfowitz, and others) urging him to effect regime change in Iraq because of Saddam Hussein’s so-called development of WMDs. Clinton responded by initiating Operation Desert Fox, bombing military targets over a period of several days to “degrade” Iraq’s ability to produce nuclear weapons.
A mere nine days after 9/11, PNAC sent a letter (signed again by many of the same luminaries) asking that President Bush attack Iraq even if no links to 9/11 were found. The Bush administration promptly proceeded to do just that: according to the testimony of ex-CIA and FBI, every intelligence agent in Iraq was tasked to discover links between Hussein and al-Qaeda. When they came up with nothing, they were ordered to look again. Despite the lack of credible links, the Bush administration proceeded to act as PNAC had requested.
PNAC is an intellectual thinktank founded in 1997 by Bill Kristol. Its purpose, as set forth on its website, is to “advance American interests in the new century” by asserting “American global leadership” through “a foreign policy that boldly and purposefully promotes American principles abroad.” This would involve “challeng[ing] regimes hostile to our interests and values” and “preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity, and our principles.” This would all be accomplished, of course, through the use of force, or by the threat of force.
PNAC makes no secret of its intent for American global hegemony (in Kristol’s own words, a ”benevolent global hegemony”): in a position paper published in 2000, PNAC advocated the nuclear strategic superiority of the United States, not simply over Russia, but over the world. One of the ways it would promote American military dominance is by “fight[ing] and decisively win[ning] multiple, simultaneous major theater wars.”
Can you say frightening? The only thing more bizarre than this plan for world dominance is that PNAC has been so overt and straightforward about it. And more frightening still, these are the men who have filled the Bush administration at its highest levels.
It was from PNAC that Bush became persuaded of the triple threat emanating from Iraq, Iran, and North Korea (borrowing David Frum’s famous “axis of evil” phrase). No sooner did PNAC indicate a so-called threat from Iran (a country with no army, no navy, no air force, and no nuclear weapons), then the administration began its saber-rattling. It was a heavy blow to PNAC’s interests when the NIE issued a finding that Iran had halted production of nuclear weapons in 2003 because of international pressure. Cheney, one of the strongest voices opposed to Iran and a PNAC member, is undeterred; he has turned his focus from nuclear weapons to ballistic missiles. If one recalls that the possible presence of a nuclear arsenal in Iraq was the only legitimate justification for a preemptive strike (side issues like the good of liberating Iraqis from Hussein’s oppression and the furtherance of democracy could never be justifications per se for a preemptive war) and that WMDs were never found, one surmises that any future administration controlled by PNAC (such as McCain’s, if elected) will hardly find it necessary to justify a strike based on the actual presence of nuclear weapons. Another excuse will do. One way or another, the plan for American empire will move forward.
Case in point: PNAC has proposed establishing permanent bases in Iran even if no real threat exists:
Over the long term, Iran may well prove as large a threat to U.S. interests in the Gulf as Iraq has. And even should U.S.-Iranian relations improve, retaining forward-based forces in the region would still be an essential element in U.S. security strategy given the longstanding American interests in the region.
If its members get their way, expect an increase in American troops in Iraq, and for a very long time:
[T]here is little reason to anticipate that the U.S. air presence in the region should diminish significantly as long as Saddam Hussein remains in power…. From an American perspective, the value of such bases would endure even should Saddam pass from the scene.
Though PNAC has since disintegrated due to internal conflict (there have been disagreements over the way the Iraq war is being waged and the government’s position towards Iran), its inner circle continues to do its work now advising the Republican nominee for president. McCain, with his talk of an occupying presence in Iraq for upwards of “10,000 years”, his recklessly aggressive attitude towards Russia, his glibness toward Iran, and his rock-solid belief that America must continue to be the world's policeman (a phrase, normally used pejoratively, employed in a complimentary fashion by him), McCain is PNAC’s dream candidate.
Special thanks to AIPAC, PNAC, AEI, Cheney, Chimpy, O'Reilly, Savage (does anyone doubt the absolute control of the media by the Zionists after listening to this cretin for 5 minutes?), Kristol, Limbaugh, Beck, Malkin, Lieberman (Zionist first, American citizen second), Wolfowitz, Perle, Feist, Frum, Murdoch, Adelman, Abrams, Kagan,, Faux News, Hannity, and a host of other syccophants and shills.
An oil line was established between Mosul and Haifa. Oil is being pumped to Israel. American soldiers are protecting the pumping station and the oil lines. Israel gets all the oil it needs.
As part of their continuing campaign to keep John Sununu out of the U.S. Senate—an effort which failed in 2002, when then-Rep. Sununu (R-N.H.) was first elected to “the world’s greatest deliberative body”—pro-Israel PACs bestowed a whopping $44,000 on would-be Democratic opponent Katrina Swett in 2007.
In case that name doesn’t ring a bell, Swett is the daughter of the late Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), who was one of Israel’s most ardent champions in the House. Her husband is former Rep. Dick Swett (D-N.H.), who, after two terms in the House and an unsuccessful Senate bid, managed to amass a respectable $95,500 in pro-Israel PAC contributions.
Will Sununu’s Democratic opponent, former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, who received $72,022 in pro-Israel PAC contributions to oppose Sununu in 2002, find it in herself to rise above the crowd?
Janet McMahon is managing editor of The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. This astounding compilation of research was provided to AFP by that fine publication. For more information on The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, please write the publisher at P.O. Box 53062, Washington, D.C. 20009. Call them at 800-368-5788 or see their website at www.wrma.com
Top 2008 & Career Recipients of Pro-Israel PAC Funds
Compiled by Hugh Galford
HOUSE: 2008 CYCLE $
Berkley, Shelley (D-NV) 34,700
Hoyer, Steny (D-MD) 32,500
Pence, Mike (R-IN) 30,000
Kirk, Mark (R-IL) 27,000
Boehner, John (R-OH) 27,000
Cantor, Eric (R-VA) 25,500
Klein, Ron (D-FL) 16,150
Crowley, Joseph (D-NY) 15,745
Johnson, Tim (R-IL) 13,000
Bachmann, Michele (R-MN) 13,000
House: Career $
Berkley, Shelley (D-NV) 283,405
Engel, Eliot (D-NY) 193,418
Hoyer, Steny (D-MD) 171,775
Obey, David (D-WI) 156,100
Kirk, Mark (R-IL) 156,882
Cantor, Eric (R-VA) 156,730
Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana (R-FL) 133,490
Lowey, Nita (D-NY) 130,738
Levin, Sander (D-MI) 124,221
Lantos, Tom (D-CA) 123,250
SENATE: 2008 CYCLE $
Levin, Carl (D-MI) 61,850
Swett, Katrina (D-NH) 44,000
Lautenberg, Frank (D-NJ) 39,000
Pryor, Mark (D-AK) 37,500
McConnell, Mitch (R-KY) 35,500
Collins, Susan (R-ME) 33,500
Coleman, Norm (R-MN) 31,000
Durbin, Richard (D-IL) 29,000
Reed, Jack (D-RI) 27,500
Landrieu, Mary (D-LA) 24,790
Senate: Career $
*Levin, Carl (D-MI) 720,737
*Harkin, Tom (D-IA) 526,950
Specter, Arlen (R-PA) 492,973
*Lautenberg, Frank (D-NJ) 473,078
*McConnell, Mitch (R-KY) 412,685
Lieberman, Joseph (D-CT) 373,851
*Durbin, Richard (D-IL) 359,421
*Baucus, Max (D-MT) 342,648
Reid, Harry (D-NV) 320,301
Wyden, Ronald (D-OR) 277,562
Saturday's loss was in a district that President Bush carried by 19 percentage points in 2004 and that the Republicans have held since 1975.
This defeat follows on the loss of Speaker Hastert's seat in Illinois. That seat had been held by a Republican for 76 years with the single exception of the 1974 Watergate election when the Democrats held it for one term. That same seat had been carried by President Bush 55-44% in 2004.
The Republican loss in the special election for Louisiana's Sixth Congressional District last Saturday should be a sharp wake up call for Republicans: Either Congressional Republicans are going to chart a bold course of real change or they are going to suffer decisive losses this November.
The facts are clear and compelling.
Saturday's loss was in a district that President Bush carried by 19 percentage points in 2004 and that the Republicans have held since 1975.
This defeat follows on the loss of Speaker Hastert's seat in Illinois. That seat had been held by a Republican for 76 years with the single exception of the 1974 Watergate election when the Democrats held it for one term. That same seat had been carried by President Bush 55-44% in 2004.
Two GOP Losses That Validate a National Pattern
These two special elections validate a national polling pattern that is bad news for Republicans. According to a New York Times/CBS Poll, Americans disapprove of the President's job performance by 63 to 28 (and he has been below 40% job approval since December 2006, the longest such period for any president in the history of polling).
A separate New York Times/CBS Poll shows that a full 81 percent of Americans believe the economy is on the wrong track.
The current generic ballot for Congress according to the NY Times/CBS poll is 50 to 32 in favor of the Democrats. That is an 18-point margin, reminiscent of the depths of the Watergate disaster.
Congressional Republicans Can't Take Comfort in McCain's Poll Numbers
Senator McCain is currently running ahead of the Republican congressional ballot by about 16 percentage points. But there are two reasons that this extraordinary personal achievement should not comfort congressional Republicans.
First, McCain's lead is a sign of the gap between the McCain brand of independence and the GOP brand. No regular Republican would be tying or slightly beating the Democratic candidates in this atmosphere. It is a sign of how much McCain is a non-traditional Republican that he is sustaining his personal popularity despite his party's collapse.
Second, there is a grave danger for the McCain campaign that if the generic ballot stays at only 32 % for the GOP it will ultimately outweigh McCain's personal appeal and drag his candidacy into defeat.
The Anti-Obama, Anti-Wright, and Anti-Clinton GOP Model Has Been Tested -- And It Failed
The Republican brand has been so badly damaged that if Republicans try to run an anti-Obama, anti- Reverend Wright, or (if Senator Clinton wins), anti-Clinton campaign, they are simply going to fail.
This model has already been tested with disastrous results.
In 2006, there were six incumbent Republican Senators who had plenty of money, the advantage of incumbency, and traditionally successful consultants.
But the voters in all six states had adopted a simple position: "Not you." No matter what the GOP Senators attacked their opponents with, the voters shrugged off the attacks and returned to, "Not you."
The danger for House and Senate Republicans in 2008 is that the voters will say, "Not the Republicans."
Republicans Have Lost the Advantage on Every Single-Issue Poll
A February Washington Post poll shows that Republicans have lost the advantage to the Democrats on which party can handle an issue better -- on every single topic.
Americans now believe that Democrats can handle the deficit better (52 to 31), taxes better (48 to 40) and even terrorism better (44 to 37).
This is a catastrophic collapse of trust in Republicans built up over three generations on the deficit, two generations on taxes, and two generations on national security.
House Republicans Should Call an Emergency, Members-Only Conference
Faced with these election results, the House Republicans should hold an emergency members-only meeting. At the meeting, they should pose this stark choice: Real change or certain defeat.
If a majority of the House Republicans vote for real change, they should instruct Republican Leader John Boehner and his team to come back with a new plan by the Wednesday before the Memorial Day recess. This plan should involve real change in legislative, communications, and campaign strategy and involve immediate, real action, including a complete overhaul of the Congressional Campaign Committee. The House Republican Conference would then vote for the plan or insist on its revision.
If a majority of the House Republicans are opposed to acting then the minority who are activists should establish a parallel organization dedicated to real change. This group should focus its energies on creating the changes necessary to survive despite a conference with a minority mindset that accepts defeat rather than fights for real change (which is what we had when I entered Congress in 1978).
Nine Acts of Real Change That Could Restore the GOP Brand
Here are nine acts of real change that would begin to rebuild the American people's confidence that Republicans share their values, understand their worries, and are prepared to act instead of just talk. The Republicans in Congress could get a start on all nine this week if they had the will to do so.
Repeal the gas tax for the summer, and pay for the repeal by cutting domestic discretionary spending so that the transportation infrastructure trust fund would not be hurt. At a time when, according to The Hill newspaper, Senator Clinton is asking for $2.3billion in earmarks, it should be possible for Republicans to establish a "government spending versus your pocketbook" fight over cutting the gas tax that would resonate with most Americans. Lower taxes and less government spending should be a battle cry most taxpayers and all conservatives could rally behind.
Redirect the oil being put into the national petroleum reserve onto the open market. That oil would lower the price of gasoline an extra 5 to 6 cents per gallon, and its sale would lower the deficit.
Introduce a "more energy at lower cost with less environmental damage and greater national security bill" as a replacement for the Warner-Lieberman "tax and trade" bill which is coming to the floor of the Senate in the next few weeks (see my newsletter next week for an outline of a solid pro-economy, pro-national security, pro-environment energy bill). When the American people realize how much the current energy prices are actually a "politicians' energy crisis" they will demand real change in our policies.
Establish an earmark moratorium for one year and pledge to uphold the presidential veto of bills with earmarks through the end of 2009. The American people are fed up with politicians spending their money. They currently believe both parties are equally bad. This is a real opportunity to show the difference.
Overhaul the census and cut its budget radically. The recent announcement that the Census Bureau could not build an effective hand-held computer for $1.3 billion and is turning instead to 600,000 temporary workers to do a paper and pencil census in 2010 is an opportunity to slash its budget, shrink its bureaucracy, and turn to entrepreneurial internet-based companies to build an information-age census. This is an absurdity that cries out for bold, decisive reform (see my YouTube video "FedEx versus federal bureaucracy" for an example of what I mean).
Implement a space-based, GPS-style air traffic control system. The problems of the Federal Aviation Administration are symptoms of a union-dominated bureaucracy resisting change. If we implemented a space-based GPS-style air traffic system we would get 40% more air travel with one-half the bureaucrats. The union has stopped 200,000,000 passengers from enjoying more reliable air travel to protect 7,000 obsolete jobs. This real change would allow the millions of frustrated travelers to have champions in congress trying to help them get places better, safer, faster.
Declare English the official language of government. This real change is supported by 87% of the American people including a majority of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and Latinos. It is an issue of national unity that brings Americans together in a red, white, and blue majority.
Protect the workers' right to a secret ballot. The vast majority (around 81%) of Americans believe that American workers have a right to have a secret ballot election before they are forced to join a union. Last year the House Democrats passed a bill that would strip American workers of the secret ballot. A new bill should be introduced reaffirming that right, and it should be brought up again and again until marginal Democrats are forced to vote with the American people against the union power structure.
Remind Americans that judges matter. Senate Republicans should mount an ongoing fight (including a filibuster of other activities if necessary) to get the American people to realize that liberals want to block all current judicial appointments in order to maximize the number of left wing radical judges they can appoint if they win the White House. This issue has three advantages. It reminds people that judges matter and that a leftwing radical Supreme Court would be bad for the values of most (70 to 90 percent, depending on the issue) Americans. It shows the Democrats are not engaged in fair play. It arouses the activism of those who have been disappointed by Republicans and have forgotten how bad a liberal Democratic Presidency would be.
What Is at Stake
No Republicans should kid themselves. It's time to face up to a stark choice.
Without change we could face a catastrophic election this fall.
Without change the Republican Party in the House could revert to the permanent minority status it had from 1930 to 1994.
Without change, the majorities of Americans who support the Republican principle of smaller, more efficient, smarter and fairer government will be in for a rude awakening.
It's time for real change to avoid a real disaster.
The "May Day Massacre": Can Liberals Govern in a Global Economy?
Despite the poor outlook for conservatives in our elections this November, there is encouraging news from across the Atlantic. The conservative wave sweeping Europe hit England last week when the liberal Labor Party suffered its worst local election results in 40 years.
Boris Johnson became the first Conservative Party member elected mayor of London when he defeated Labour candidate "Red" Ken Livingstone. In contests for more than 4,000 local seats across England, Conservatives captured 44 percent of the vote, compared to 25 percent for the Liberal Democrats and just 24 percent for Labour.
This Conservative victory in England comes on the heels of a history-making rout of the Communists and the Greens in parliamentary elections Italy two weeks ago. And the Italian results follow center-right victories in France (Sarkozy) and Germany (Merkel). The countries of so-called "old" Europe are turning away from the liberal high tax, big government policies that have crippled their economies and are turning toward pro-growth, pro-competitive center-right solutions.
All of which raises the question: Can the Left successfully govern in a modern, global economy? The voters of Europe seem to be saying no.
Your friend,
Newt Gingrich
P.S. -- Father's Day is just around the corner and there are great gift ideas available at great prices at Newt.org. Just click here to order personally signed copies of my new novel, Days of Infamy, as well as Pearl Harbor and Real Change. With the purchase of either of these three personally signed books, you can get a signed copy of Gettysburg for only $5. If you buy both a personalized copy of Pearl Harbor and Days of Infamy, you will receive a signed Gettysburg for free!
P.P.S. -- The Days of Infamy book tour took me to New York City last week where Callista took some great pictures of us on the set of Hannity and Colmes, The View, The Daily Show and others. You can view them here.
OK, it's not really in my hand because I'm typing, but I'm looking at it carefully, and you should too. It is a table constructed by the Tax Policy Center's steely-eyed tax analysts, http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/, and it reveals nothing less than McCain's secret plan to diminish the US government beyond recognition. If he gets his way, conservatives will finally be able to say they've achieved the goal set out by Grover Norquist: to get government "down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."
The numbers in the table show the revenue loss to the Federal government from McCain's proposed tax cuts. In the far right corner is the 10-year total: -$5.7 trillion.
People deride the Republican candidate as "McSame," implying a continuation of Bushonomics as well as the president's foreign policy. But from the perspective of domestic policy, it's much worse. Sure, McCain extends the Bush tax cuts but that's the least of it. At $1.7 trillion they amount to less than a third of the damage.
Note also that the big ticket tax cuts-eliminating the alternative minimum tax and lowering the corporate tax-both follow on another Bush tradition of exacerbating market-driven (i.e., pre-tax) inequalities by cutting high-end taxes the most.
As I stresshere , McCain's plans to pay for these tax cuts amount to filling a crater with a teaspoon of sand. Earmarks won't get you there, so he'll have to go after discretionary spending. In fact, he's already suggesting a freeze in such spending, excluding defense, of course. Sound inoffensive until you consider that we're talking about kids' health care, education, child care, training for displaced workers, environmental and labor protections, and dozens more programs that lots of people actually need and care about.
Plus, he can't fill the hole he's dug with cuts in these programs either, which leads you to the inevitable punch line of all this: his target is the entitlements, Social Security and Medicare. Those programs have always been the big enchiladas for the Norquist shock troops and they've never recovered from their Social Security privatization defeat. Well, they're back, incognito.
McCain's top economist, a number cruncher of great integrity named Doug Holtz-Eakin, responds to the Tax Policy's analysis here http://taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org/blog/_archives/2008/4/20/3650536.html, and he makes a good point or two, especially regarding the way they score the AMT, but his counterpoints amount to little more than quibbles. In fact, one can't help wonder if Doug, who used to inveigh against supply-side nonsensehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/22/AR2008042202521.html , has been drawn to the economic dark side. When recently asked about the extent to which these numbers fail to add up, his response was: "I think what [critics] ought to do is remember that the proposals are going to engender economic growth, which is the best thing you can do for near-term budget improvement." That's pure hand waving of the type with which the old Holtz-Eakin had no patience.
This story has yet to catch the fire it should, and hopefully will, once the D's get focused on McCain and his dim vision of government. But the point born of these numbers is as simple as it is compelling:
For seven long years, we've tried entrusting our government to those who discredit it, defund it, and fundamentally disbelieve in its role, except when they seek a lucrative contract or a bailout. We gone down the road-and it is a crumbling road, with potholes and failing bridges -- where the solution to every problem is a tax cut, where critical agencies are staffed with cronies at best and opposition lobbyists at worst, where secrecy trumps transparency and cynicism rules, where budget resources are never available for expanding children's health care, but always there for war.
Table T08-0071 is a road map to taking us far, far deeper into this morass. We must not go there.
3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter - LIAR, he was part of
one of the most corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had.
4.) My Family Has Strong Ties To African Freedom - LIAR, your
Cousin Raila Odinga has created mass violence in attempting to overturn
a legitimate election in 2007, in Kenya. It is the first widespread
violence in decades.
5.) My Grandmother Has Always Been A Christian - LIAR, she does
herdaily Salat prayers at 5am according to her own interviews. Not
To mention, Christianity wouldn't allow her to have been one of 14
wives to 1 man.
7.) I Never Practiced Islam - LIAR, you practiced it daily at
school, where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for 31
years, until your wife made you change, so you could run for
office. What rock are you hiding under after Jeremiah Wright?
8.) My School In Indonesia Was Christian - LIAR, you were
Registered as Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies for making
faces (check your own book). better http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt-KUUlJ81g
ndonesia is a Muslim country, and Obama attended a public school there, which taught a small amount of religion. CNN, the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune investigated the e-mail claims by visiting the school and interviewing former teachers and students who were there at the same time as Obama. These investigations found a public school where students wore Western clothing and prayer was a small part of the curriculum. The Chicago Tribune reported the school was “so progressive that teachers wore miniskirts and all students were encouraged to celebrate Christmas.”
9.) I Was Fluent In Indonesian - LIAR, not one teacher says you
Could speak the language.
10.) Because I Lived In Indonesia, I Have More Foreign
Experience - LIAR, you were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and couldn't even
speak the language. What did you learn, how to study the Koran
and watch cartoons. wait a sec what about number 9?
11.) I Am Stronger On Foreign Affairs - LIAR, except for Africa
(surprise) and the Middle East (bigger surprise), you have never
been anywhere else on the planet and thus have NO experience with our
closest allies.
12.) I Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion - LIAR, you
Were quite content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention of
Kenya and no mention of struggle to identify - your classmates said
You were just fine.
13.)An Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office - LIAR, Ebony
has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't, and
Never did, exist.
14.) A Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On Life - LIAR,
Life has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It
doesn't, and never did, exist.
15.) I Won't Run On A National Ticket In '08 - LIAR, here you
are, despite saying, live on TV, that you would not have enough
experience by then, and you are all about having experience first.
16.) Present Votes Are Common In Illinois - LIAR, they are
common for YOU, but not many others have 130 NO VOTES.
17.) Oops, I Misvoted - LIAR, only when caught by church groups
And democrats, did you beg to change your misvote.
18.) I Was A Professor Of Law - LIAR, you were a senior lecturer
ON LEAVE.
19.) I Was A Constitutional Lawyer - LIAR, you were a senior
Lecturer ON LEAVE.
20.) Without Me, There Would Be No Ethics Bill - LIAR, you
didn't write it, introduce it, change it, or create it. You mean the The Feingold-Obama bill improves substantially on S. 2349, the lobbying disclosure and ethics bill that the Senate passed in March 2006?
21.) The Ethics Bill Was Hard To Pass - LIAR, it took just 14
Days from start to finish.
22.) I Wrote A Tough Nuclear Bill - LIAR, your bill was rejected
By your own party for its pandering and lack of all regulation - mainly
because of your Nuclear Donor, Exelon, from which David Axelrod
came.
23.) I Have Released My State Records - LIAR, as of March, 2008,
state bills you sponsored or voted for have yet to be released, exposing
all the special interests pork hidden within.
* While Grandpa Straight Talk was running for the presidency in 2000, all his aides were going nuts because he was constantly traveling with a good-looking lobbyist gal who was, at the time, in her early thirties.
* Whether or not McCain and Vicki Iseman were having sexytime on the corporate jets he used to fly around the country, McCain did do the bidding of Iseman’s clients.
* At this point, he had barely cleared his name from the Keating Five Savings & Loan scandal.
* In one of his few acknowledgments that the Arizona senator has ever been to Arizona, McCain made a point of not flying direct from National Airport to Phoenix because he had some part in opening up that commercial air route — but because he always flies in luxury private jets provided by the Corporates, it didn’t much inconvenience him.
* McCain helped launch some campaign-ethics group, but the group ended up doing the exact same corrupt things it was supposedly against, so he quit in shame.
* Corrupt banker/developer Charles Keating was, obviously, an immediate supporter of McCain’s long congressional career. Keating showered dirty money and fancy vacations on McCain, who loves all that shit.
* Then McCain tried to get the government off the back of Keating’s failing corrupt Lincoln Savings and Loan, because McCain really wants to get government off the backs of his corrupt millionaire friends.
* McCain got caught, but somehow clung to his senate seat.
* But McCain can still pretend to “wince” at the memory of getting caught, so who cares if the bailout cost American taxpayers $3.4 billion?
* He also got caught having a big lobbyist fund-raising deluxe luxury fancy party in 2000. So he ran and hid like a little girl.
* Lobbyists control his entire miserable, corrupt life.
* He loves lobbyists, both in the figurative and literal sense, because he was probably screwing that one lobbyist.
* And when the lobbyists need a quick letter to the FCC or whatever to help their clients, John Maverick McCain is always quick to help, the end.
2.) Father Was A Goat Herder - LIAR, he was a privileged, well
educated youth, who went on to work with the Kenyan Government.
3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter - LIAR, he was part of
one of the most corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had.
4.) My Family Has Strong Ties To African Freedom - LIAR, your
Cousin Raila Odinga has created mass violence in attempting to overturn
a legitimate election in 2007, in Kenya. It is the first widespread
violence in decades.
5.) My Grandmother Has Always Been A Christian - LIAR, she does
herdaily Salat prayers at 5am according to her own interviews. Not
To mention, Christianity wouldn't allow her to have been one of 14
wives to 1 man.
6.) My Name is African Swahili - LIAR, your name is Arabic and
'Baraka' (from which Barack came) means 'blessed' in that
language. Hussein is also Arabic and so is Obama.
7.) I Never Practiced Islam - LIAR, you practiced it daily at
school, where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for 31
years, until your wife made you change, so you could run for
office.
8.) My School In Indonesia Was Christian - LIAR, you were
Registered as Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies for making
faces (check your own book).
9.) I Was Fluent In Indonesian - LIAR, not one teacher says you
Could speak the language.
10.) Because I Lived In Indonesia, I Have More Foreign
Experience - LIAR, you were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and couldn't even
speak the language. What did you learn, how to study the Koran
and watch cartoons.
11.) I Am Stronger On Foreign Affairs - LIAR, except for Africa
(surprise) and the Middle East (bigger surprise), you have never
been anywhere else on the planet and thus have NO experience with our
closest allies.
12.) I Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion - LIAR, you
Were quite content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention of
Kenya and no mention of struggle to identify - your classmates said
You were just fine.
13.)An Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office - LIAR, Ebony
has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't, and
Never did, exist.
14.) A Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On Life - LIAR,
Life has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It
doesn't, and never did, exist.
15.) I Won't Run On A National Ticket In '08 - LIAR, here you
are, despite saying, live on TV, that you would not have enough
experience by then, and you are all about having experience first.
16.) Present Votes Are Common In Illinois - LIAR, they are
common for YOU, but not many others have 130 NO VOTES.
17.) Oops, I Misvoted - LIAR, only when caught by church groups
And democrats, did you beg to change your misvote.
18.) I Was A Professor Of Law - LIAR, you were a senior lecturer
ON LEAVE.
19.) I Was A Constitutional Lawyer - LIAR, you were a senior
Lecturer ON LEAVE.
20.) Without Me, There Would Be No Ethics Bill - LIAR, you
didn't write it, introduce it, change it, or create it.
21.) The Ethics Bill Was Hard To Pass - LIAR, it took just 14
Days from start to finish.
22.) I Wrote A Tough Nuclear Bill - LIAR, your bill was rejected
By your own party for its pandering and lack of all regulation - mainly
because of your Nuclear Donor, Exelon, from which David Axelrod
came.
23.) I Have Released My State Records - LIAR, as of March, 2008,
state bills you sponsored or voted for have yet to be released, exposing
all the special interests pork hidden within.
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 27, 2005; Page A03
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's call for an ideological cease-fire in the Democratic Party drew an angry reaction yesterday from liberal bloggers and others on the left, who accused her of siding with the centrist Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) in a long-running dispute over the future of the party.
Long a revered figure by many in the party's liberal wing, Clinton (D-N.Y.) unexpectedly found herself under attack after calling Monday for a cease-fire among the party's quarreling factions and for agreeing to assume the leadership of a DLC-sponsored initiative aimed at developing a more positive policy agenda for the party.
The reaction highlighted the dilemma Democratic politicians face trying to satisfy energized activists on the left -- many of whom are hungering for party leaders to advance a more full-throated agenda and more aggressively confront President Bush -- while also cultivating the moderate Democrats and independents whose support is crucial to winning elections. The challenge has become more acute because of the power and importance grass-roots activists, symbolized by groups such as MoveOn.org and liberal bloggers, have assumed since the 2004 election.
The most pointed critique of Clinton came in one of the most influential blogs on the left, Daily Kos out of Berkeley, Calif., which called Clinton's speech "truly disappointing" and said she should not provide cover for an organization that often has instigated conflict within the party.
"If she wanted to give a speech to a centrist organization truly interested in bringing the various factions of the party together, she could've worked with NDN," the blog said in a reference to the New Democrat Network, with which Daily Kos's Markos Moulitsas is associated. "Instead, she plans on working with the DLC to come up with some common party message yadda yadda yadda. Well, that effort is dead on arrival. The DLC is not a credible vehicle for such an effort. Period."
Other blogs noted that the day Clinton was calling for a truce, one DLC-sponsored blog was writing disparagingly of liberals. Marshall Wittman wrote from the DLC meeting in Columbus, "While someone from the daily kosy (misspelling intended) confines of Beserkely might utter ominous McCarthyite warnings about the 'enemy within,' here in Columbus constructive committed crusaders for progressivism are discussing ways to win back the hearts of the heartland."
Roger Hickey, co-director of the liberal Campaign for America's Future, said Clinton had badly miscalculated the current politics inside the Democratic Party and argued that she could pay a price for her DLC association if she runs for president in 2008.
"There has been an activist resurgence in the Democratic Party in recent years, and Hillary risks ensuring that there's a candidate to her left appealing to those activists who don't much like the DLC," he said.
Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson tried to deflect the criticism. "Her point was simply to say that the goals and issues that divide us are less consequential than are the ones we share in common, and that unity is needed in the face of our shared challenge," Wolfson said.
John D. Podesta, who was White House chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, said he interpreted Clinton's remarks as critical of those on both sides -- centrists as much as liberals -- who would devote more energy to internal party battles than to confronting the right . But he said Clinton may have underestimated the bad feelings within the party. "I think she was trying to push the DLC back a little bit, but she walked into a crossfire maybe she should have realized was out there," he said.
Meanwhile, Jesse L. Jackson reopened his decades-old battle with the DLC by accusing the group of fronting for corporate interests while ignoring labor and civil rights leaders. "The DLC embraces CAFTA and sells admission to its conference to corporate lobbyists," he said in a speech to the AFL-CIO convention in Chicago.
""ahem..... Hillary isn't a liberal. I know, I know... it doesn't fit with your talking points but the things is... when you say stuff (repeated over and over from right wing media) and it isn't true, people are smart enough to catch on that you really don't have much of a command with your facts. You already discredited yourself, just want you to realize an uncomfortable fact.
Now, mysterious "fire safe' cigarettes are forced on us that taste and smell heavily like chemicals. Sometimes, they go out unless smoked constantly. Sometimes, they burn all the way into the filter if left on an ashtray. All the paper is made by one company.
On top of all that, they just spiked the sales taxes on cigarettes.
There are ways for smokers to fight back against this unholy alliance of government, big tobacco and probably insurance lobbyists.
If you can, quit smoking. It will extend your lifespan and increase the quality of that life.
If you do not wish to do so, consider the following steps.
1. Stop playing the lottery in MA, and tell your representatives why at http://www.mass.gov/legis/
It may not shake the foundation of the legislature, but it will get attention.
2. Visit http://www.ryomagazine.com and learn about making your own tobacco blends, choices in papers, tubes, and rolling machines vs. injectors.
3. Make a fresh pack of your own high quality filter luxury cigarettes in the time it takes to drive to the store for around $1.50 a pack by going to http://www.cigarettetobacco.com
I suggest Windsail Platinum, Two Timer Gold, Rowland Gold, and Vangeur Platinum. Use a premier excel tube injector and Veracruz elite white tubes. Tobacco is sold in big bags or 3.5 oz cups.
I do not work for either of those two companies and provide this information for those who smoke to save money and take control over what goes into their cigarettes.
So, this OP thinks Hillary is NOT a liberal huh, and then begins to criticize about "talking points". Looks like another blindfolded, kool-aide drinking sheep liberal fell off the DUMB WAGON!!! Perhaps you should take a course or two at the local school and re-introduce yourself the the actual modern day definition of what a liberal is.........but ill make this easy for you and use the Jeff Foxworthy approach....
Instead of you "might be a liberal" we will use "you ARE a liberal.......following? Or do i need to use smaller words...
You are a liberal if you: VOTE pro-choice (yep, she does) so you saying that you can't be coservitve and pro choice? then what about www.republicansforchoice.com and www.gopchoice.org
You are a liberal if you: Want to give homos special rights (yep,she does)
You are a liberal if you: Believe any of the fiction about global warming(Bingo) what fiction?
"" "" """ "" "" : Hate the US MIlitary, want them to lose and WILL cut their funding (no brainer) false http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4811 As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hillary has championed legislation to improve the lives of our veterans and their families. She worked to provide access to TRICARE for National Guard and Reserve members. She authored the Heroes at Home Act that will begin to help service members struggling with post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. She worked with others in the Senate to pass legislation to increase the military survivor benefit from $12,000 to $100,000.
As president, she will honor three fundamental commitments: First, every member of our armed forces will receive a fair shot at the American dream when their service is over. Second, every veteran in America will have health care. Third, every veteran will receive the benefits they have earned and the assistance they need - right from the start.
"" "" "" : want terrorists to have the same rights as American Citizens (yep) huh?
"" '' '' : still think the wealthy dont pay enough taxes (once again) you mean those over 250 k, jsut look at cwah ttaxes cuts have given us in the last 7 yrs? record deficts
"" "" "" : believe in freedom of speech unless someone says something you dont
agree with (typical) Middle-class and working families are paying a much higher percentage of their income. [Billionaires like] Warren Buffett pay about 17%, because don't forget, it's the payroll tax plus the income tax. And when you cut off the contribution at $95,000, that's a lot of money between $95,000 and the $46 million that Warren Buffett made last year. We've got to get back to having those with the most contribute to this country
"" "" "" : think legit American Citizens should have to work hard and pay taxes so
that illegal immigrants can have a free ride
"" "" "" : think that just talking to terrorists will solve all the problems and that
diplomacy is
the best way to go with these people, because they are so understanding (wow) huh? come again? In November, Clinton gave a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on the need for the United States to take an actively internationalist, rather than isolationist stance. By supporting "internationalism," Clinton indicated her support for working with other countries to solve problems such as terrorism, rather than seeking to solve them alone or retreating from foreign entanglements.
Clinton has argued that in order to win the war on terrorism, a concerted effort to prepare the entire country for interactions with foreign cultures must be made. She has advocated an increase in "civilian capacity" through global education and the creation of a public service academy --"a West Point for public service"—to create a more prepared civilian population.
Oh ya, i could go on for hours with this, but i have to do what most Republicans do so well, EARN a good living!!! Hillary is all about these FACTS, she is a LIBERAL as much as B. HUSSEIN OBAMA is (hes a little worse). They are BOTH American born terrorists and must be defeated at ALL cost!!!!
You are a liberal if you: VOTE pro-choice (yep, she does)
You are a liberal if you: Want to give homos special rights (yep,she does)
You are a liberal if you: Believe any of the fiction about global warming(Bingo)
"" "" """ "" "" : Hate the US MIlitary, want them to lose and WILL cut their funding (no brainer)
"" "" "" : want terrorists to have the same rights as American Citizens (yep)
"" '' '' : still think the wealthy dont pay enough taxes (once again)
"" "" "" : believe in freedom of speech unless someone says something you dont
agree with (typical)
"" "" "" : think legit American Citizens should have to work hard and pay taxes so
that illegal immigrants can have a free ride
"" "" "" : think that just talking to terrorists will solve all the problems and that
diplomacy is
the best way to go with these people, because they are so understanding (wow)
was canceled after the United States realized none of them was from Iran...
Iran... continues to seethe after an Iraqi delegation went to Tehran last week to confront it with the (arms-supply) accusations. It has denied the accusations, and it says as long as U.S. forces continue to take part in military action in Iraq's Shiite strongholds, it won't consider holding further talks with Washington on how to stabilize Iraq.
******************************
This administration seems to have a just about unique capacity for both belligerence and incompetence. This is an extremely dangerous combination.
May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama isn't likely to pick rival Hillary Clinton as a running mate, according to one of his most prominent supporters.
ADVERTISEMENT
``I don't think it's possible,'' Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy said in an interview on Bloomberg Television's ``Political Capital With Al Hunt,'' airing this weekend.
Kennedy, 76, without naming names, said Obama should pick someone who ``is in tune with his appeal for the nobler aspirations of the American people.''
``If we had real leadership -- as we do with Barack Obama -- in the No. 2 spot as well, it'd be enormously helpful,'' Kennedy said.
A vice presidential candidate with national security credentials would be ``useful'' though not necessary because Obama, an Illinois senator, has a good understanding of foreign policy, Kennedy said. ``I think he's been eloquent; I think he's been incisive; and I think he's been right,'' he said.
Kennedy, chairman of the Senate committee that oversees health, education and labor, criticized presumptive Republican nominee John McCain's health-care plan. The proposal, which includes a tax credit and federal assistance to states, doesn't do enough to fix the U.S. system, he said.
Health-Care Costs
Kennedy said the McCain plan wouldn't do enough to reduce costs and expand coverage. He also said McCain failed to plan for the use of new technologies and preventive care.
``It's a marvelous plan for the insurance industry,'' Kennedy said. ``They just love it.''
Obama, 46, has built a virtually insurmountable lead over Clinton, 60, a New York senator. Earlier this week, Obama solidified his advantage by winning North Carolina's primary by 14 percentage points.
He has 1,854 delegates to the August nominating convention and Clinton has 1,697, according to an unofficial Associated Press tally. He needs 2,025 to win.
The prolonged battle between Obama and Clinton probably won't hurt the Democratic Party, Kennedy said. ``It's basically the divisions in terms of race and gender, and these involve people's emotions deeply,'' he said. ``Ultimately, the party is going to come together because they are so thirsty for victory.''
Traditional Democrats
Clinton has argued that she is better at bringing out traditional Democrats such as non-college-educated white voters. Her appeal has much to do with the history that she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have with voters, Kennedy said.
``Many of those groups have great confidence in the Clinton brand,'' he said. ``They're more familiar with her.''
Obama will win over voters as they become more familiar with his message, Kennedy said. Catholics, for instance, should see that Obama is talking about the ``social gospels'' on issues such as poverty, he said. ``He'll do very well,'' Kennedy said.
On the economy, Kennedy said one of the most pressing issues for Americans right now is the need for a new economic stimulus package. The government should do more with food stamps, assistance to states for health care and community grants, he said.
Supplemental Funding
A vehicle for passing a second package might be the supplemental funding measure for Iraq, Kennedy said. ``This ought to be a part of that whole program,'' he said.
House Democrats omitted economic stimulus from a proposed supplemental spending bill because President George W. Bush threatened to veto any measure that is too expensive.
The Senate could add stimulus provisions when it debates the legislation later this month, though Republicans probably would oppose any extra spending linked to the war funds measure.
``The time is now'' for action on economic stimulus, Kennedy said. ``The need is great now.''
Clinton and Obama have both made the faltering economy a central theme in their race. Kennedy's January endorsement of Obama was a blow to Clinton and her husband.
Asked if he had spoken with Bill Clinton since that endorsement, Kennedy said he had talked with Hillary Clinton ``on a number of occasions.'' As for the former president: ``I haven't had that opportunity.''
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Close-in supporters of Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign are convinced he never will offer the vice presidential nomination to Sen. Hillary Clinton for one overriding reason: Michelle Obama.
The Democratic front-runner's wife did not comment on other rival candidates for the party's nomination, but she has been sniping at Clinton since last summer. According to Obama sources, those public utterances do not reveal the extent of her hostility.
Don't believe it? Look at the video... an act to dupe more idiot voters, or just plain over-medicated? I don't really care... disengenous hackery doesn't suit the office of the President and supposed ex-drug addict-dry-drunks have been tested. Time to evolve.
Come on now... this guy is actually running for president.......? It would also help if the next president knew the difference between a Shiite and a Sunni.
Dumb acts don't impress me. Besides our current president tends to use it a bit too much already as a cop-out and it's responsible for the shit we are currently in together as a nation... verrry expensive to life, labor, and the overall economy sucks with a falling dollar looking like a broken parachute.
Here we go again. After being subjected to eight years of the collegial presidency of Bill and Hillary, when we were told that when we got Bill we got Hillary as a bonus, it looks as if we are facing another twofer: Barack and Michelle.
Effete liberal Democrats are all but canonizing Barack Obama, who they see as one of their own -- cool, detached, impressively intellectual -- all in all what Pat Buchanan described as something fresh out of the faculty lounge, where lofty thoughts abound and contempt for the great unwashed is hardly concealed.
Michelle Obama, wife of US Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), speaks to a crowd of supporters at the Wunderlay Gymnasium at the Penn State campus in McKeesport, Pennsylvania April 21, 2008. REUTERS/Jason Cohn (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008 (USA)
Related Media:
VIDEO: Michelle Obama: U.S. Has 'empathy Deficit'
VIDEO: Tolman and Gray: Presidential Primaries, Obama's Wife and Finneran
That may be an apt description, implying that the Barack Obama who scorned ordinary folks in small towns who, he sneered, cling to such lower-class crutches as religion and guns, is above the distractions of the madding crowd.
It does not, however, fit the other half of the new twofer, Michelle Obama, who far from being above it all is down there in the trenches acting like the flame-throwing liberal activist she is. To know her is to know what her husband really believes.
As I have told my listeners of my radio show, if you want to understand how Barack Obama uncomplainingly sat through all those fire-breathing sermons without so much as stirring uncomfortably you need to understand the way husbands and wives practice their religion these days.
The men in the pews for the most part are passive, while the wives tend to be passionate. In most cases husbands are there because their wives have dragged them there. Chances are that while the women sit in rapt attention to the words of their pastor, the husbands are snoozing, blissfully unaware of what the reverend is preaching.
From what we’ve heard from Mrs. Obama she was paying close attention to the Reverend Mr. Wright, eating up his fiery words and probably enthusiastically nodding agreement as he blamed whitey for inventing AIDS to kill blacks as Barack dozed beside her, wondering when the Reverend Wright was going to shut up.
Barack is now wide awake, and for the next seven months he’s going to continue to be faced with explaining why he remained silent while his pastor ranted in the pulpit. And insisting that during his presence in the pews the Reverend Wright never once acted like Reverend Wright just won’t wash. Poor Barack, how can he admit that he didn’t hear any of that rabble-rousing rhetoric because he slept through all 20 years of it?
If you want to find the culprit here, turn to Michelle. I’m willing to bet she heard every word of the Reverend Wright’s inflammatory sermons, swallowed them whole, and seethed in anger over White America’s wretched mistreatment of her fellow black Americans as described by her pastor.
Nowadays she’s playing the role of dutiful wife and doting mother, but every once in a while her anger surfaces as it did most famously when she told a group in Milwaukee, “For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is making a comeback.”
Just what is hope in Michelle Obama’s lexicon?
Why it’s nobody other than the man she shared a pew with for 20 years, her husband, who she brags “is one of the smartest people you will ever encounter who will deign [i.e. “lower himself”] to enter this messy thing called politics.”
“We have lost the understanding that in a democracy, we have a mutual obligation to one another -- that we cannot measure the greatness of our society by the strongest and richest of us, but we have to measure our greatness by the least of these,” she says.
“That we have to compromise and sacrifice for one another in order to get things done. That is why I am here, because Barack Obama is the only person in this who understands that. That before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation.”
Barack Obama, our sole hope -- the cobbler who’ll mend our poor broken souls. With, of course, the help of his wife Michelle.
Which is why we have transcribed a major speech she made in North Carolina on the Friday before that state's primary vote, and why we have posted the audio of the speech here.
Michelle Obama, wife of US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), sits in the audience during a campaign event at the National Constitution Center, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 18, 2008. Obama criticized his preacher for racially charged rhetoric but said he could not disown the man who baptized his children and officiated at his wedding during the speech about race and politics in America. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008 (USA)
Related Media:
VIDEO: Michelle Obama: U.S. Has 'empathy Deficit'
Read it. Listen to it. This is not a speech from the mainstream of American politics. It is a radical critique of the country, and it is not the sort of assessment widely shared beyond the far precincts of the left.
Here are just a few of the key assertions Michelle Obama makes:
But we’ve also learned something else this year, something that we’ve all sort of felt at some point in our life, that we’re still living in a nation, and in a time when the bar is set, I talk about this all the time, they set the bar. They say look, if you do these things, you can get to this bar, right? And then you work and you struggle, you do everything that they say, and you think you’re getting close to the bar and you’re working hard, and you’re sacrificing, and then you get to the bar, you’re right there, you’re reaching out for the bar, you think you have it, and then what happens? They move the bar. They raise it up. They shift it to the left and to the right. It’s always just quite out of reach. And that’s a little bit of what Barack has been experiencing. The bar is constantly changing for this man. Raise the money? Not enough. Build an organization? Not enough. Win a whole bunch of states? Not the right states. You got to win certain states. So the bar has been shifting and moving in this race, but the irony is, the sad irony is that that’s exactly what’s happening to most Americans in this country. The bar is shifting and moving on people all the time. And folks are struggling like never before, working harder than ever, believing that their hard work will lead to some reward, some payoff. But what they find is that they get there and the bar has changed, things are different, wasn’t enough. So you have to work even harder.
And see what happens when you live in a nation where the vast majority of Americans are struggling every day to reach an ever-shifting and moving bar, then what happens in that nation is that people do become isolated. They do live in a level of division, because see, when you’re that busy struggling all the time, which most people that you know and I know are, that you don’t have time to get to know your neighbor. You don’t have time to reach out and have conversations, to share stories. In fact, you feel very alone in your struggle, because you feel that somehow, it must be your fault that you’re struggling so hard. Everybody else must be doing okay. I must be doing something wrong, so you hide. You don’t realize that the struggles of that farmer in rural Iowa are the same as the struggles as a city worker in the south side of Chicago, because we don’t talk to each other. And when you live in a nation with a vast majority of Americans are struggling to reach an ever-shifting and moving bar, then naturally, people become cynical. They don’t believe that politics can do anything for them. So they fold their arms in disgust, and they say you know, I can’t be bothered voting, because it has never done anything for me before. So let me stay home, let me not bother. Naturally, we as a nation get cynical.
And when you live in a nation where people are struggling every day to reach an ever-shifting and moving bar, then what happens in that kind of nation is that people are afraid, because when your world’s not right, no matter how hard you work, then you become afraid of everyone and everything, because you don’t know who’s fault it is, why you can’t get a handle on life, why you can’t secure a better future for your kids. And the problem with fear is that it cuts us off. Fear is the worst enemy. It cuts us off from one another and our own families, and our communities, and it has certainly cut us off from the rest of the world. It’s like fear creates this veil of impossibility, and it is hanging over all of our heads, and we spend more time now in this nation talking about what we can’t do, what won’t work, what can’t change. See, and the problem with that kind of thinking is that we passed that on to our children, because see, the thing I know as a mother is our children are watching everything we do and say, every explicit and implicit sign, they are watching us. And our fear is helping us to raise a nation of young doubters, young people who are insular and they’re timid. And they don’t try, because they already heard us tell them why they can’t succeed. See, and I don’t want that for my kids.
And this:
But the truth is, right now, that little nugget of a dream that was my life is getting further and further out of reach for most Americans because of that bar constantly moving. You know, jobs like my father had those blue collar jobs where you got pensions, vacation, all that, they’re dwindling. They’re drying up. They’re disappearing, going overseas. And if you’re lucky enough to have a job, nine times out of ten, your salary’s not keeping up with the cost of living. Barack and I met with a family of railroad workers, union folks. They said for eight years, they hadn’t seen a pay increase. For eight years, zero pay increase. Eight years. No increase. Gas prices going up, food going up, rent, insurance, own a home, what’s going with the mortgages? That’s going up. It’s all going up, and salaries are staying stagnant. So no wonder that bar feels like it’s moving. And I don’t know how single parents do it. There are millions of them all over this country. Let me tell you, single parents love their kids, too. But it is almost impossible to raise a family of any size on a single salary. So now you’ve got single parents who have to double and triple shift, taking on two, three jobs, working all the time, and feeling like they’re failing because that bar is moving, because how on Earth are you going to work as hard as you need to to pay the bills and be at parent/teacher conferences, and sit down and do homework when a kid has trouble? How are you going to manage all that? Well, folks are not, and they’re doing it suffering in silence, blaming themselves for the fact that they’re not working hard enough. Maybe something’s wrong.
The bar is moving and shifting on them, and it’s moving and it’s shifting with regard to education, because we all know that No Child Left Behind is not doing what it needs to do for children in this country. So now on top of all the other worries that families have, now they’re worried about education, because we all know that you cannot measure the success of a child by a single test. And if that were the case, I wouldn’t be here, because I was not a good test taker. How many kids do you know who are like me? Teachers don’t have the resources to teach, the freedom to do what they know that they need to do. So the bar is shifting and moving, and college is another ever-shifting and moving bar. Even when kids do everything that’s asked of them, do your homework, stay out of trouble, get good grades, take those tests, do well on them, many of them apply, got into the colleges of their choices, only to look at the cost, look at their family’s income, sticker shock, so they walk away from college, not because they didn’t get in, but they couldn’t afford it.
And this:
And [Barack] has spent every ounce of his time running over the decisions in his head – do I…when graduating from college, do I work on Wall Street? Make a lot of money, that’d be better for me, or do I go work in a community as an organizer? Well, what did Barack do? He became a community organizer, working in some of the toughest neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago, worked for years in neighborhoods where people had a reason to give up hope, because their jobs had been lost, steel mills shut down, living in brown fields left by those closed steel plants, unsafe streets, schools deteriorating, grandparents raising grandkids. Barack spent years working with churches, busing single mothers down to City Hall to help them find their voice, building the kind of operations on the ground just like he’s doing in this race, block by block, person by person. Now you tell me whether there’s anybody in this race who can claim to have made the same choice with their lives. You tell me, but I think that Barack Obama is the only person that can claim that kind of choice.
And finally, this bit of winsome humility: "So trust me, we’ve seen it all. Barack has seen it all."
Michelle Obama isn't running for the presidency, but she is at center stage of her husband's campaign, and her vision of America will obviously inform Barack Obama's vision of America if he becomes president.
And her vision isn't one that most Americans share.
Hugh Hewitt is a law professor, broadcast journalist, and author of several books including A Mormon in the White House?: 110 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney.
What's cooking? Is this something like another Vietnam? Are they looking for another source of OPIUM, over there (close to GOLDEN TRIANGLE)? Afghanistan was not enough?
I mean why a Government (like Myanmar) wants to block international AID on its own people? I mean it's a matter of FREE FOOD isn't it? Does anyone refuse that? I can't digest it. Wouldn't this create Chaos, against the government?
And, "the posters are written in perfect English", no mistakes, perfect handwriting. It seems that someone handed those to them. Someone that knows very good English.
I'm not sure, but what the MEDIA is depicting doesn't make sense at all. Maybe that's the reason why the Myanmar Government is blocking the USA aid.
