Republicans and fellow travelers have been griping for about a week now about the coverage of Barack Obama’s trip abroad. They see it as unfair; they see it as favoritism. This point of view can be seen reflected in Robert’s cartoon of Wednesday.
But they’re missing an important point: Obama going abroad and meeting foreign leaders is news because it’s something new. John McCain going abroad to hang with foreign leaders is old hat, dog-bites-man stuff.
My point is sort of underlined by the results of the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, which finds Obama having a lead in a straight-up match, but McCain having a distinct advantage when it comes to whether voters are comfortable with the candidate’s background and values. As the WSJ reports today:
…With the nominations of both parties effectively settled for more than a month, the key question in the contest isn’t over any single issue being debated between the Democrats’ Sen. Obama or the Republicans’ Sen. John McCain. The focus has turned to the Democratic candidate himself: Can Americans get comfortable with the background and experience level of Sen. Obama?
This dynamic is underscored in a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. The survey’s most striking finding: Fully half of all voters say they are focused on what kind of president Sen. Obama would be as they decide how they will vote, while only a quarter say they are focused on what kind of president Sen. McCain would be.
The challenge that presents for Sen. Obama is illustrated by a second question. When voters were asked whether they could identify with the background and values of the two candidates, 58% said they could identify with Sen. McCain on that account, while 47% said the same of Sen. Obama. More than four in 10 said the Democratic contender doesn’t have values and a background they can identify with….
The bottom line is, folks are still making up their minds about Obama, so every move he makes is of high, relevant interest to voters. Both his detractors and admirers should welcome this.
I don’t know about you, but I decided what I thought about John McCain a long time ago. I thought he should have been nominated and elected in the year 2000, and I think we’d all be better off if that had happened. Yeah, I know some people have changed their minds about him since then, but I have not, nor have a lot of others.
But all of us — including those of us who like what we’ve seen so far — are still making up our minds about Obama. And I don’t know about you, but I’m going to be paying close attention to what all this intense scrutiny reveals, for good or ill, as I make up my mind for November.
Related Posts
Once you know Obama’s friends are mostly Marxists, terrorists and crooks, what else do you need to decide not to vote for him?
Now, the New York Times reports that most of his campaign money is coming from overseas, mainly Arabs, with Saudi Arabia the top source.
If people are still making up their minds about Obama (unlike that crackpot TV journalist Chris Matthews, who all but told every Jay Leno viewer night before last to vote for “Barack”), here’s hoping folks note how easily Katie Couric was able to cut Obama to ribbons merely by asking him about two of his contradictory Iraq policy statements yesterday.
If a presidential candidate can’t handle relatively soft questions from his journalistic support group, how’s he going to negotiate with Ahmadinejad or Putin?
In that sense, Mr. Warthen, Obama’s trip is news, but that surely was never the plan. What he wanted was a prolonged photo op to make him look presidential by getting him into the same frame with guys who actually are leading countries. Surely he never imagined his network sycophants would actually rev up their journalistic motors and do their jobs for a change.
My question: Why, when Obama has never been able to admit the surge in Iraq worked, does he want a surge in Afghanistan?
Lee,
Could you point me to the source that supports your statement, “the New York Times reports that most of his campaign money is coming from overseas, mainly Arabs, with Saudi Arabia the top source.”?
It sounds made up, as does your other statement, “Obama’s friends are mostly Marxists, terrorists and crooks”.
Thanks in advance for your consideration.
It’s really an easy choice. McCain has a ton of foreign policy experience. Unfortunately the current foreign policy is the largest problem the US currently faces. So he has a lot of experience at doing things very poorly. That sounds like a great guy to bring in. I’m sure that wouldn’t just isolate the country even further. Oh wait, it would.
Why doesn’t McCain’s age get more attention. He can hardly open his mouth without some incorrect fact come out. He looks increasingly feeble. Fact is, Obama will only get more experienced while McCain gets older. Seems like a pretty simple choice to me: A young, vibrant, energetic, charismatic man who is perhaps a bit inexperienced vs. a dottering old fool who can’t get his facts right and has a history of supporting foreign policy blunders.
THE STATE newspaper buys the New York Times op-ed columns. On June 29, Maureen Dowd, a flaming leftist who always votes Democrat, penned a column about how disturbing it is to find that most of Obama’s money is from large Arab contributors overseas, and is being laundered into thousands of small transactions. This is an updated version of Al Gore’s Buddhist Temple scandal, larger and using Electronic Funds Transfer.
Since The State paid for it, but Brad Warthen chose to not print it, I will post it. You can establish an account and read it online,
————————————–
OBAMA’S TROUBLING INTERNET FUND RAISING
By MAUREEN DOWD
New York Times
Published: June 29, 2008
Certainly the most interesting and potentially devastating phone call I have
received during this election cycle came this week from one of the Obama’s campaign
internet geeks. These are the staffers who devised Obama’s internet fund raising
campaign which raised in the neighborhood of $200 million so far. That is more then
twice the total funds raised by any candidate in history – and this was all from the
internet campaign.
What I learned from this insider was shocking but I guess we shouldn’t be surprised
that when it comes to fund raising there simply are no rules that can’t be broken
and no ethics that prevail.
Obama’s internet campaign started out innocently enough with basic e-mail networking
, lists saved from previous party campaigns and from supporters who visited any of
the Obama campaign web sites.
Small contributions came in from these sources and the internet campaign staff were
more than pleased by the results.
Then, about two months into the campaign the daily contribution intake multiplied.
Where was it coming from? One of the web site security monitors began to notice the
bulk of the contributions were clearly coming in from overseas internet service
providers and at the rate and frequency of transmission it was clear these donations
were “programmed” by a very sophisticated user.
While the security people were not able to track most of the sources due to
firewalls and other blocking devices put on these contributions they were able to
collate the number of contributions that were coming in seemingly from individuals
but the funds were from only a few credit card accounts and bank electronic funds
transfers. The internet service providers (ISP) they were able to trace were from
Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other Middle Eastern countries. One of the banks used for
fund transfers was also located in Saudi Arabia.
Another concentrated group of donations was traced to a Chinese ISP with a similar
pattern of limited credit card charges.
It became clear that these donations were very likely coming from sources other than
American voters. This was discussed at length within the campaign and the decision
was made that none of these donations violated campaign financing laws.
It was also decided that it was not the responsibility of the campaign to audit
these millions of contributions as to the actual source (specific credit card number
or bank transfer account numbers) to insure that none of these internet contributors
exceeded the legal maximum donation on a cumulative basis of many small donations.
They also found the record keeping was not complete enough to do it anyway.
This is a shocking revelation.
We have been concerned about the legality of “bundling” contributions after the
recent exposure of illegal bundlers but now it appears we may have an even greater
problem.
I guess we should have been somewhat suspicious when the numbers started to come
out. We were told (no proof offered) that the Obama internet contributions were from
$10.00 to $25.00 or so.
If the $200,000,000 is right, and the average contribution was $15.00, that would
mean over 13 million individuals made contributions? That would also be 13 million
contributions would need to be processed. How did all that happen?
I believe the Obama campaign’s internet fund raising needs a serious, in depth
investigation and audit. It also appears the whole question of internet fund raising
needs investigation by the legislature and perhaps new laws to insure it complies
not only with the letter of these laws but the spirit as well.
Norm,
Are you seriously unfamiliar with all the terrorists, Marxists, swindlers and terrorist supporters are behind Obama?
How can anyone follow any news at all and miss all this? Somem of it is in his own book.
How can Lee not spend any time fact checking his sources? http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/donations.asp
It’s a well known fake column. Her actual column for that date, according to the NY Times directory of her columns, was about Hillary and her supporters coming to grips with Obama’s primary victories. It wasn’t really anything to write home about.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/opinion/29dowd.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Lee,
I went to read Ms. Dowd’s column for myself. I don’t know where you got your information, but it didn’t come from the source you cite. I see others have already addressed that, however. (Thanks, Jay & Uncle Elmer.) It sounds like one of those things you get in anonymous emails. Maybe you should block that source.
I follow the news closely. I’ve read both of Mr. Obama’s books. I know of a few controversial names that have arisen around him, but I’m not aware of any relationships that give me great concern. I certainly don’t ascribe any of their beliefs to him, just as I wouldn’t ascribe the views of others to Mr. McCain.
If you know of some individuals that maybe I should know more about, maybe you could share their names with me? Thanks.
Back to the original point of Mr. Warthen’s blog…I believe Senator Obama is getting more coverage because he draws more viewers/readers/listeners. People are curious (looking for signs of strength and weakness), and satisfying that curiosity sells. The media are responding, at least in part, in their own economic best interest.
Lee, you’ve been had. The Dowd column you cite is a hoax. Just type ‘fake dowd column’ into google and you’ll get oodles of proof to that effect. Fact is Obama is raising millions from real Americans fed up with the antics of the Bush Adminstration and have no desire for a third Bush term.
But what if the Saudis were contributing? Isn’t that just the free-market at work? If you’re consistent you have to acknowledge that it is.
Let’s say this Down column IS an elaborate fake. It is BELIEVABLE because:
* Obama’s autobiography details his rejection of American and embrace of Islam, and his changing of his “Christian slave name” to a fabricated Muslim name.
* Arab leaders, from Omar Khaddafi to Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian government, have endorsed Obama.
* Obama’s campaigns have been run by convicted terrorists like Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dorn, and sympathizers for Hamas, like the most recent ones who were forced to resign.
* Obama is associated with racist Muslims like Reverand Wright and Louis Farakan.
* Most of Obama’s donations have no names attached.
* Many big donors, like Oprah and the Hollywood crowd, have used fundraisers to launder large donations. That is documented and under investigation.
* Obama has not revealed his foreign donors.
* Obama has called for surrendering the Mideast to Al Qaeda, even as we have secured victory and are mopping them up.
Lee just doesn’t know when to quit making a fool of himself. At least he provides a bit of comic relief to the Blog.
bud, let’s hear you defense of all the terrorists associations with Obama, starting with Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorn.
Then move back to all the communists that Obama credits as being major influences on his life.
* Obama’s autobiography details his rejection of American and embrace of Islam, and his changing of his “Christian slave name” to a fabricated Muslim name.
Ok, that’s just not true. He was named Barack Obama after his father.
* Arab leaders, from Omar Khaddafi to Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian government, have endorsed Obama.
“Endorse” is a little strong. Seems to be a rather weak attempt at linking Mr. Obama to terrorists.
* Obama’s campaigns have been run by convicted terrorists like Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dorn, and sympathizers for Hamas, like the most recent ones who were forced to resign.
Dorn and Ayers are unsavory people and were rather inept at their terrorist activities. Neither ever ran a campaign for Mr. Obama. It appears that their relationship is a happenstance acquaintance.
* Obama is associated with racist Muslims like Reverand Wright and Louis Farakan.
Well, Reverend Wright is a Christian. Both are loudmouthed bags of wind. Senator Obama has repudiated both of them and their views.
* Most of Obama’s donations have no names attached.
Source?
* Many big donors, like Oprah and the Hollywood crowd, have used fundraisers to launder large donations. That is documented and under investigation.
Again, source, please?
* Obama has not revealed his foreign donors.
His campaign claims they will not accept foreign donations. Do you have evidence otherwise?
* Obama has called for surrendering the Mideast to Al Qaeda, even as we have secured victory and are mopping them up.
Again, source? Because it sounds made up.
Are you Obamaniacs now arguing that “Barack” Obama has always been a Muslim.
From what he says, his original name was “Hussein al bin Obama”.
He added the name “Barack”.
For a time, he went by the name “Barry Soetoro”
His father was a Marxist, a Muslim, and a radical supporter of Jomo Kenyatta and other African communist dictators. He was buried in a Muslim funeral.
Hussein al bin “Barack” Obama has a radical Muslim uncle and brother.
Hussein al bin “Barack” Obama was raised by his communist mother and her friends, like the mentor he praises in his book, Frank Marshall Davis, of the Communist Party USA.
Another mentor, Reverand Wright, was a longtime Black Muslim, before “converting” into some sort of fundamentalist quasi Christian.
Hussein al bin “Barack” Obama called for withdrawing all troops from Iraq, and to have had them all gone months ago, before the Surge ever started.
FACT: Obama’s campaigns have been run by convicted terrorists like Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dorn, and sympathizers for Hamas, like the most recent ones who were forced to resign.
BS EXCUSE: “Dorn and Ayers are unsavory people and were rather inept at their terrorist activities. Neither ever ran a campaign for Mr. Obama. It appears that their relationship is a happen stance acquaintance.”
A FLAT-OUT LIE.
THE TRUTH
Dorn and Ayers have been friends of Obama for over 13 years. They are neighbors. Their children play together. Obama held his announcement for IL Senate at the Ayer’s home. They were photographed together until a few months ago, when the scandal made the news.
is Lee retired or does he do this on his employer’s time?
Can’t deal with the dirty truth about Obama?
I am a full-time patriot.
I work for myself, with most of it going to the government.
Lee’s just a fool. He never met a snopes.com-worthy column he couldn’t drool over and believe. He is entertaining and to be sure, there is no guile. He is what he appears to be.
Brad Warthen, on the other hand, is less candid.
I heard Mr. Warthen on Keven Cohen’s show. He refused to answer when asked if he had made up his mind. These in-print Lindsey Graham-esque “Hamlet” moments disguise a mind made-up, just like Little Lindsey. The State newspaper Brad speaks for last endorsed the Democratic candidate for President when Harry Truman was running. They’re not about to change.
No matter how much of a flip-flopping political opportunist John McSame is, Mr. Warthen will never desert his man.
His pandering to the wingnuts of his party as evidenced by his totally changed positions on tax cuts for the wealthy, immigration, the Confederate Flag, Bob Jones and the rest of the motley crew of American Ayatollahs, ad nauseum has no boundaries.
amazing. Warthen is feeding the paranoia of the rightwing zealots who believe any nonsense about Obama. His name, his race, his pastor, his religion. Why dont we just stop and say anyone who is not white, male and republican is not qualified to be president. Never mind that the current resident is the biggest imbecile ever to hold the office. Unfortunately, south carolina which has a beautiful topography also has a vile racial history and still refuses to acknowledge it and move into the 21st century. Eventually, something you dont want will happen, enough northern progressives will move into your state to drag you kicking and screaming into the future, meanwhile, good luck trying to hold the tide back.
•Are you Obamaniacs now arguing that “Barack” Obama has always been a Muslim.
I assume you are calling me an Obamaniac. I can’t find a reliable source that suggests his name was ever anything other than Barack Obama. What is your source? His name, my name, your name have no bearing on our faith.
•From what he says, his original name was “Hussein al bin Obama”.
Source?
•He added the name “Barack”.
Source?
•For a time, he went by the name “Barry Soetoro”
He explains that as a child he used the name Barry because people had trouble saying Barack correctly. Soetero was his stepfather’s name.
•His father was a Marxist, a Muslim, and a radical supporter of Jomo Kenyatta and other African communist dictators. He was buried in a Muslim funeral.
I’ll concede this point. His father left him when he was 2 years old, and he saw him one time when he was about 9 or 10 years old. I don’t think he had much influence on the senator’s political views. He didn’t attend his funeral.
•Hussein al bin “Barack” Obama has a radical Muslim uncle and brother.
Possibly—maybe even probably. The brother is a half brother. Both of these family members live in Africa (if you are referring to the relatives he discusses in his autobiography).
•Hussein al bin “Barack” Obama was raised by his communist mother and her friends, like the mentor he praises in his book, Frank Marshall Davis, of the Communist Party USA.
I’ve just re-read chapters 4 and 5 in Mr. Obama’s autobiography. Here’s a telling quote about Frank Marshall Davis:
“He would read us his poetry whenever we stopped by his house, sharing whiskey with Gramps out of an empty jelly jar. As the night wore on, the two of them would solicit my help in composing dirty limericks. Eventually, the conversation would turn to laments about women.”
If I missed it, please correct me—I never read anything that indicates that Davis was a mentor of any kind. I don’t even see much praise. Yes, Marshall was a communist.
•Another mentor, Reverand Wright, was a longtime Black Muslim, before “converting” into some sort of fundamentalist quasi Christian.
Source? His dad was a Baptist minister.
About Ayers and Dohrn: This is the most reliable source I could locate for their relationship.
Mr. Obama was introduced at the Ayers-Dorhn home by Illinois State Senator Alice Palmer. Ms. Palmer was introducing Mr. Obama as her chosen successor to her state senate seat. Obama and Ayers both served on the board of the Woods Fund of Chicago. (a philanthropic foundation). Ayers donated $200 to Obama’s state senate reelection campaign.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8630.html
I’d be interested in a source that gives further details. This sounds to me like happenstance acquaintances.
This will be my last post on this topic. You may have the last word if you wish.
so mccain can’t get his facts straight? obama said there were 10,000 people killed in kansas in may from tornadoes. he said he had traveled every corner of the us and been in 57 states. he said his parents met at the selma march. that was in 1965 but he was born in 1961. he said there was no threat from iran and a country that small with small defense budgets posed no threat but the next day said he had said all along iran was a threat. that young energetic charasmatic man seems to be the one who can’t get his facts straight not mccain
Ron, your minutia and other unsupported “facts” are irrelevant. McSame is too old and too ignorant. His judgment can’t be trusted as he’s shown since his Keating 5 days. His campaign is a walking talking lobby shop.
President Junior is not entitled to a third term through McSame. The worst president in history has to go as do all Repugnants.
Lying this country into a preemptive war while allowing OBL to escape, while running the economy into the ground is Junior’s legacy and McSame can’t tell you how he’ll change anything because he’s so afraid of your fellow mouth breathers.
so mccain can’t get his facts straight? obama said there were 10,000 people killed in kansas in may from tornadoes. he said he had traveled every corner of the us and been in 57 states. he said his parents met at the selma march. that was in 1965 but he was born in 1961. he said there was no threat from iran and a country that small with small defense budgets posed no threat but the next day said he had said all along iran was a threat. that young energetic charasmatic man seems to be the one who can’t get his facts straight not mccain
they are not irrelevant. why can mcCain’s gaffes be held against him but obama gets a pass. those gaffes of obama are not unsupported facts. they are real and with a little research can easily be found. oh yes, i forgot his uncle helped liberate auschwitz. he made this statement on memorial day.
Ok, Ron. Let’s play a game.
On the one hand, we’ve got Obama who corrects himself in the same speech when he first stated 10k killed and then realized his error.
On the other hand, we’ve got McSame who first said President Junior’s tax cuts were wrong and then “corrected” himself when wingnuts like you howled, and now McSame says tax cuts for the rich are ok with me.
On the one hand, we’ve got Michelle Malkin, a weird troubled soul screeching that Obama has made many gaffes(undocumented, BTW).
On the other hand, we’ve got McSame saying in South Carolina he first supports flying the Confederate swastika and then says he was wrong to pander to the Segregation Akademy crowd like you, Ron.
On the one hand, we’ve got Obama who called it right by opposing President Junior’s optional war, and on the other hand we’ve got McSame saying we need four more years of President Junior’s policies.
Ok, Ron, tell us what’s important. Oh, you’re stumped? Sorry, Ron, thanks for playing. You can go home now and write another letter to the editor calling Jimmy Carter a traitor for giving back stolen property to Panama.
Red Bank, I love the Panama example. The screeching and ranting and howling that went on by the right back in the Carter days was simply palpable. Of course they were wrong. Transferring sovereignty of the Canal Zone (McCain’s birthplace) was the correct thing both morally and pragmatically. The right was completely 100% wrong on that issue. There just simply was never anything bad that happened following that decision. Ships sail through it on a daily basis and our relationship with Panama has never been better. (At least the Decider didn’t screw that up).
This just shows what a bunch of fear-mongering morans the right is in this country. They fear every boogeyman and somehow convince enough gullible people to win elections.
if you will read my responses, all i did was point out the fact that both have made gaffes but it seems mccain’s are the ones the media likes to draw attention to. i never attacked your viewpoint or called you names. i enjoy a civil discussion about politics and other matters but will not subject myself to attacks from someone who does not know me or what i believe. i will not be part of a conversation that reverts to name calling or accusations. have a great day.
ron, the media DID make a big deal out of the things you brought up. The whole uncle liberating Auschwitz thing was featured prominently. Yet that was completely a non-issue. His GREAT uncle did in fact liberate BUCHENWALD. Not really much of a gaff in my view.
But for McCain to say that Iraq shares a border with Pakistan, that’s pretty serious for a man who has made as his centerpiece his foreign policy credentials. McCain is showing his age while Obama may be showing a bit of inexperience. McCain will get older and Obama more experienced. So who would be better qualified to be president 3 years from now: an older McCain or a more experienced Obama.
In the midst of all the blather the question made famous by the “sainted” Reagan “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” still seems relevant.
Incidentally the Surge has not lowered the level of al queda activity to what is was before the US invasion-zero. The survivors of hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis might also question whether they are better off since the US decided to invade Iraq rather than Saudi Arabia where the 9/11 terrorists had their origin.
” Yes, Marshall was a communist.” – Norm
A prominent black communist. Thank you for admitting that much.
Yes, Frank Marshall is featured by Obama as a close friend of his mother, and a great influence on him.
Given the other associations of Democrats with communists, this is troubling:
* Hillary Clinton – worked for attorneys for Communist Party USA in defense of Black Panthers charged with murder of policeman.
* Bill Clinton – fled US to dodge draft, traveled to Moscow as guest of Soviets, to demonstrate against US in Vietnam
* John F. Kerry – British historians open KGB records revealing Kerry’s anti-war group was funded and directed by the KGB.
* Leon Panetta – leader of pro-Castro group
* Nancy Pelosi – supporter of socialist cult leader Jim Jones
* Barney Frank and 48 other Congressmen who are members of the Democratic Socialist Alliance, an international coalition of socialist and communist legislators.
Couple this with Obama’s call for huge tax increases on Americans, a lowering of our standard of living in order to hand out money to the rest of the world, especially African socialist dictators.
Lee,
The contents of the article that you posted and attributed to Maureen Dowd is a forgery!
Post the link to the Maureen Dowd article in a reply and it better have a NY Times domain!
The article that she published on June 29, 2008 is about the joint Obama and Hillary appearance in Unity:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/opinion/29dowd.html
Lee,
Don’t bother about replying with any of your Marxist crap!
Just post the NY Times link Lee!
the obama supporters never seem be able to defend obama’s friends, lack of experience, and political philosophy; they just deny it. obama has no fresh ideas, just a lot of the same old tax and spend FAILED democrat[socialist] policies. he has no policy to end ‘the war on poverty’ or bring any accountability to the any of the other FAILED social programs of previous democrat administrations. can anyone of his supporters name five significant accomplishments that would qualify him to be president? can they name one of his proposed domestic policies that will not require a tax increase?
Obama can just do like Reagan and Bush-run up the deficit by incresing spending without new revenues. What a way to run a “business.” When Bush took office we had a surplus, now our great grandchildren will be paying for his mideast adventures. America would be a lot safer had that money been spent on our infrastructure, not to mention new orleans
red bank Leave your remarks about the confederate flag in that garbage heap you call a brain.
Here are 5 significant accomplishments of Senator Barack Obama:
1. Worked with Sen. Lugar to secure loose nukes and to destroy dangerous stockpiles of dangerous conventional arms.
2. Co-sponsored a variety of ethics reform measures.
3. Sponsored several bills related to Katrina relief suchs as (a) a bill to address the evacuation needs of folks with special needs, (b) a bill to create a national emergency family locator and (c) a bill limiting no-bid contracts following natural disasters
4. Co-sponsored a bill addressing issues related to the spread of the Avian Flu.
5. Sponsored and ammendment to provide meal and phone benefits to members of the armed forces on active service during current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I’m especially impressed by the first one. He clearly demonstrated he can work across the aisle to accomplish something important.
As for the cost issue, most of the above do have a nominal cost. But who could argue that securing loose nukes is not money well spent. The no-bid part of the Katrina legislation would likely save the government a significant amount of money.
sorry bud, i don’t view those as presidential. i just can’t bring myself to vote for LIBERAL.
“A lie told often enough becomes the truth.”
Ralph,
I already answered your dismissal, before you posted it. See above.
My last post contains nothing from the bogus Maureen Dowd article, just the blunt facts about communist ties to a bunch of Democrats.
bud,
You list of 5 pitiful little things “Obama worked on” makes the case that he is a light-weight, empty suit, hand puppet for powerful people pulling the strings.
There were no budget surpluses under Clinton, over $1.2 TRILLION in new debt, even on top of his huge tax increase.
All the deficits under Bush are due to excessive social welfare spending. Without those new programs, we could have paid for the war with no deficits.
Obama proposes over $1 TRILLION more debt in his first term, and proposes sending lots of it overseas. He will crush working people here with a $2,800 family tax to provide socialist medical care, a carbon tax that will erase jobs, and capital gains tax which will end investment.
Lee,
You are absolutely correct. Obama is a puppet. He has no substance. All smoke and mirrors. He did not just happen upon the scene in his first term in the Senate.
We will find out who is pulling the strings but it will probably be too late.
actually the surpluses began with 70 billion in fiscal year 98 and increased each year until Bush took office and apparently decided it was irresponsible to pay down debt and that we needed a tax cut instead. following the Reagan model (not his father who actually believed higher expenditures should not just be borrowed from future generations) Bush 2 returned to the cycle of borrow and spend perfected by the great communicator.
Brad,
I agree with your comment about McCain in 2000. No doubt, we’d all have been a whole lot better with McCain than with the current chief executive. (Although, to be frank with you, I would have preferred Gore.)
What I am hoping is that even the conservative ideologues who have posted above will ultimately vote their pocketbooks. We’ve had eight years of Republican leadership and look at what we’ve got! High gas prices, a tumbling economy, a weakened international position, a seemingly endless war in Iraq where even the PM wants us out, and a worsening situation in Afghanistan.
McCain seems to be in favor of cutting taxes on the rich and on corporations, as if any of their wealth would ever trickle down to us in the form of investment in job-producing industry.
I think, ultimately, it boils down to a conservative white rejection of the very thing that enthralls us so much about O’Bama–the very fact of a well-educated African American actually becoming president instead of a crotchety old white guy who can barely get up from the table and who, in spite of his vaunted foreign policy expertise, can’t seem to locate where Iraq is in relation to Pakistan.
There’s too much white resentment at everything not rural, white, redneck, workingclass, hard-working, sportsloving, beer-swilling, fundamentalist, and poorly educated. I do believe a lot of my fellow white people would rather pay ten dollars a gallon than see a you-know-what in the White House.
Sincerely,
A Teacher in a local high school
This is a sad discussion. Is the strategy here to cut Obama down far enough to make McCain look tall? Didn’t anybody ever tell you guys that the only way to pull someone down into the mud is to get down into it first?
Thinking about Obama.
An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought. Quote from Simon Cameron.
Ok. Has this blog degenerated to a point where all we can do is either talk trash or spend our time refuting obvious lies? There are lots of folk I disagree with who make sense. Do we have to continue to endure those who intentionally post lies?
Slugger, from your posts, I’d say you’re a proud graduate of either a Segregation Akademy or a Christian Madrassa. Which one is it, S=Man?
Ok, I’ll bite. Just who is Obama a puppet for? “he did not just happen on the scene..” Sounds like your bed has lots of commies, one-worlders, and anti=christs under it.
All the world needs to know is how you voted in 2000 and 2004. Presidente Arbusto says it all. The worst president in history and you picked him. Shame on you.
Red Bank,
To answer your question. I am an independent. I am not a racist. I know a con-artist when I hear one. We once called them carpetbaggers down South.
If some of you folks would get the stardust out of your eyes, you might be able to see through Obama before it is to late.
Lee is trying to give you information and let you think for yourself. Obama is counting on votes from the uninformed. How do I know, because he never tells you anything of any substance. Just a bunch of feel good words. He has something in that carpetbag for everyone (if you believe that). He is the Robin Hood for a segment of our population and he is signing up more to vote every day because they want a piece of the pie.
From the Times in London –
A nice piece of political satire :
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/gerard_baker/article4392846.ece
And I thought Obama was just running for President ? Silly me.
oops – sorry – the whole story:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol
/comment/columnists/gerard_baker
/article4392846.ece
We don’t teach the carpetbagger/scalaway theory of reconstruction in American history anymore, largely because it’s inaccurate. What really happened, as current scholarship makes clear, was the re-enslavement of African Americans by the whites who “redeemed” the South, terrorized anyone who criticized them or got in their way, and quashed most of the progressive reforms of enlightened and relatively corruption-free Reconstruction governments. With Blacks sunk back into a terrified servitude and poor whites kept festering with all kinds of resentments that endure to this day, the white aristocracy banded together with men like Ben Tillman who rewrote our fundamental laws and gave southern governments constitutions like our own “Tillman Constitution” of 1895, under which we continue to suffer today. The only time a weak executive is ever useful constitutionally is when you have a boob like Sanford in charge. In a state where the legislature is all-powerful and the branches of government are not properly balanced, you cannot afford to antagonize repeatedly the most important branch and expect to govern effectively. And Sanford clearly does not. Time for him to go back into real estate.
Bob Dylan penned it in 1964:
“Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.”
This is a terrifying, exhilarating, historic time to be alive. Our world is always in a state of never-ending eruption… we cannot know where the debris will fall. Where you find your political and moral center today will be in a different place 5, 10, 15 years from now. Dylan said it in ’64, others said it before and are saying it today.
The only constant is change; the only change is the velocity of the change. We can argue about bits and pieces ‘til we’re blue, (pun unintended but, hey, I like ‘em), but our universe is moving really, really fast right now… the best we can do is try to flex with it.
Thanks for the history lesson Richard. The thing is that people like you want to live in the past instead of join in trying to secure the future. When you get over all that hate then maybe you can get out of being resentful of those that did not make history the way you wanted it to be.
It is time to move on and that includes bringing up the flag issue again. I have ancestors that went to their graves early because of that war. I am proud that they fought for what they thought was the right thing to do.
Get over all the hate and let us move on.
Lee,
Are you referring to this post of yours?
Let’s say this Down column IS an elaborate fake. It is BELIEVABLE because:
…
Posted by: Lee Muller | Jul 24, 2008 2:13:17 PM
Your response is a typical Bill Clinton type of answer, “That depends upon what the meaning of is, is”.
You never answered the question. Is the article real or is it fake?
No pretending or make believe.
Real or Fake?
Bottom line – Obama proposes a TRILLION DOLLARS of new deficits and taxes, which will cause a recession.
He wants the US to remove its foot from the neck of Al Qaeda, instead of annihilating them.
Slugger, the hate historically has been directed by whites against blacks. Blacks were the victims of slavery at the hands of whites, not the other way around. You’re living in a dreamworld if you think the confederate flag stands for love, peace, and freedom. Manifestly, it does not.
The whole world is watching this election and hoping against hope that we Americans will definitively reject racism and war. This election does indeed hang on what white people do at the ballot box and, slugger, a little knowledge of real history–not the pabulum you were taught–would go a long way. O’Bama as president would send a strong signal to the world that America has made and continues to make great strides toward the exorcism of the demons of racism and hatred. McCain’s not a bad guy, although his economic policy clearly would favor the wealthy (duh! he’s a Republican–no longer the party of Lincoln!!). But he is a crotchety, grumpy old white guy who carps, bitches, whines, complains, and says dumb sh*t.
Slugger, do you prefer McCain primarily because he’s white, even though he’s not all that conservative?? I think a lot of rural white folk are even more put off by Barack’s success in Europe than if he had failed. After all, can it be that a black fellow would actually outclass a white guy on the world stage?
I think a lot of white people still think they’re better than black people, and they just have to get over that sh*t!
Richard,
I can take a licking and keep on ticking but you are so full of it that you have everything up-side-down. Look in the mirror and you will see the racist.
Slugger,
If it’s racist to recognize that the South oppressed Blacks through the institutions of slavery and then the Jim Crow codes that lasted in one form or another in some places up to 1970, then you and I just don’t have the same definition of racism. Discussions with you are as dysfunctional as attempting to agree with Soviet officials a generation ago on the nature of democracy. You need to go to a good bookstore, take the blinders off, and read current scholarship in US history, rather than wrapping yourself up in the Confederate battle flag.
You want to live in the past. Join the human race and you can live in the present and aim for a future without race problems.
It is people like you that, hold the black race back and stir up the hate.
Slugger,
I happen to be white, over 50, athletic, and drive a pick-up truck. I believe in every American’s God-given 2nd Amendment Right to keep and bear arms, and I support our troops. When you get people like me starting to turn out for O’Bama, then you know that John McCain’s base is cracking.
As for holding black people back and stirring up hate, wasn’t that the accusation made by conservatives against the civil rights movement back in the 50s and 60s. If you get white people angry, well, they might just take it out on black people. Isn’t that the kind of terrorism we left behind in this country a generation ago and which still, unfortunately, exists in Iraq between Sunni and Shi’a. Get ’em mad and they might hurt someone??
Wonderful to have Warthen’s blog as a place where the self hating whites, negrophiles and anti white racial bigots can attempt to spin their rationalizations of pure white hate.
Doesn’t fool anyone.
Had not the negrophiles executed lincoln, all the negroes would be back in africa where they could enjoy the level of culture they possess.
RL,
No one believes that a supporter of the Second Amendment would support Obama, who favors gun registration, bans on semiautomatic rifles, and disarming the black residents of DC.
No one believes that you can “support the troops” while supporting Obama, who seeks to surrender before we finish annihilating Al Qaeda.
Yes, McCain is a liberal, but he is not a racist traitor like Obama, who threatens to tax the middle class into extinction.
Obama is a racist.
His supporters are racist.
Reject racism. Reject Obama.
When are we going to be told the real truth about his drug use to the present. His down low homosexuality that he has been accused of by prominent black ministers and his real association wuth known terrorists? His affirmative action education education? His grades at Harvard and how he was pushed thru that system as was his wife with her education?
The very tone of the setup by Warthen at the beginning of this string confirms what I already know about the MSM and its’ relationship with Obama:
Warthens’ run-up to this string is a tacit approval/endorsement of the sickening, sycophantic and fawning coverage the MSM has slathered on Obama and his magical mystery tour/two week photo op. Warthen has essentially admitted that he thinks the MSM is right in doing so and that he too slobbers whenever Obama tosses out an incorrect factoid or mischaracterizes/rewrites history to support his obviously wrong positions.
This kind of overt bias and militant involvement in newsmaking rather than objective news reporting is why people like Mike Fitts have had bail.
Who needs the MSM? Who, really, needs The State?
David
oops…people like Mike Fitts have had “TO” bail.
One very worrisome thing (among many) about Obama is, that if the MSM and and the drive by media and the Brad Warthens in this country can MAKE Obama, then they can surely destroy him whenever they want to. I would much rather have a president who isn’t beholden to “king-makers” in the press and media and who must take his queues from them when attempting to lead and guide our country.
And I don’t think McCain is much better ~ he’s become such a media darling and celebrity hog that his allegiances are questionable too, in my mind.
Where is Superman?
David
Brad Warthen relishes the media duping of the public. Every other column is about his fantasy of how local politicians “agree with him”, or how important his endorsements are.
Then, in the next breath, the media mavens will tell you they have no bias, no agenda, and just report on the wishes of the people.