BE CAREFUL WHO YOU CALL A "BARGAINER," MR. STEELE

UPDATE:

For an excellent take on this issue, see Glenn Greenwald's post:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/03/17/wright/index.html


And this from Frank Schaeffer, son of Religious Right preacher, Francis Schaeffer, who advocated the overthrow of the United States Government--in other words, treason--but nevertheless was a friend and guest of Presidents Ford and Reagan.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/obamas-minister-committe_b_91774.html

There is a mountain of hypocrisy on the Right. If anyone on the Right had the intellectual curiosity to delve into what their religious leaders, Falwell, Robertson, Hagee, and Shaeffer have preached against the American people, they would see themselves as the hypocrites they are. Instead, the Right Wing Noise Machine continues to rail against Senator Obama's pastor, self-righteously labeling him anti-American.

They ought to look within their own churches, and what their pastors have said, and see the anti-American sermons being preached there.

*****************************************

Here is Shelby Steele's article where he calls Senator Obama a "bargainer" and demeans Obama's accomplishments:


"The novelty of Barack Obama is more his cross-racial appeal than his talent. Jesse Jackson displayed considerable political talent in his presidential runs back in the 1980s. But there was a distinct limit to his white support. Mr. Obama's broad appeal to whites makes him the first plausible black presidential candidate in American history. And it was Mr. Obama's genius to understand this. Though he likes to claim that his race was a liability to be overcome, he also surely knew that his race could give him just the edge he needed -- an edge that would never be available to a white, not even a white woman.

How to turn one's blackness to advantage?

The answer is that one "bargains." Bargaining is a mask that blacks can wear in the American mainstream, one that enables them to put whites at their ease. This mask diffuses the anxiety that goes along with being white in a multiracial society. Bargainers make the subliminal promise to whites not to shame them with America's history of racism, on the condition that they will not hold the bargainer's race against him. And whites love this bargain -- and feel affection for the bargainer -- because it gives them racial innocence in a society where whites live under constant threat of being stigmatized as racist. So the bargainer presents himself as an opportunity for whites to experience racial innocence."

The rest of this opinion piece of a liberal Afro-American by an conservative Afro-American is here:

What kind of bargaining did you make, Mr. Steele? Both you and Senator Obama are smart, attractive, knowledgeable men, and yet you posit that Senator Obama has arrived at this point in history through white guilt and the mask Obama wears is"bargaining?

The are many, many talented and distinguished historians, Mr. Steele. A lot of them are conservatives. How is it that you've received the plaudits and attention and esteem over many others? Bargaining or white guilt?

Steele claims Obama has attained his ascendency through taking advantage of his blackness, and implies that Senator Obama has accomplished very little:

"And he has failed to say how he would actually be a "unifier." By the evidence of his slight political record (130 "present" votes in the Illinois state legislature, little achievement in the U.S. Senate) Barack Obama stacks up as something of a mediocrity. None of this matters much."

But I and others have covered this tiresome misrepresentation:

http://progressiveerupts.blogspot.com/2008/02/barack-obamas-accomplishments-as-state.html#links

And then Steele sniffs and dismisses Obama "...as something of a mediocrity."

A man who served as the head of Harvard's Law Review (the first Afro-American to do so), who graduated from Harvard magna cum laude, (mediocrity? What planet is Steele from where one of our most prestigious institutes of higher learning hands out a graduate degree, magna cum laude, to mediocrities--this is where the piece becomes a hatchet job--that was unworthy of Steele.) Senator Obama has written--not ghost written, as many other presidential hopefuls have--two books, and who has, in his short time in the Senate, sponsored much legislation and has taken his campaign from being a somewhat Quixotic run for the presidency to a real and present danger to the well financed and politcally connected campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton. A year ago very few Americans knew who he was, and now he is ahead, in some polls, of Senator John McCain.

The most malicious part of this essay is where he calls out Senator Obama for belonging to Jeremiah Wright's church:

"...for 20 years -- in an Afrocentric, black nationalist church in which his own mother, not to mention other whites, could never feel comfortable. His pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is a challenger who goes far past Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson in his anti-American outrage ("God damn America").

How does one "transcend" race in this church? The fact is that Barack Obama has fellow-traveled with a hate-filled, anti-American black nationalism all his adult life, failing to stand and challenge an ideology that would have no place for his own mother. And what portent of presidential judgment is it to have exposed his two daughters for their entire lives to what is, at the very least, a subtext of anti-white vitriol?

What could he have been thinking? Of course he wasn't thinking. He was driven by insecurity, by a need to "be black" despite his biracial background. And so fellow-traveling with a little race hatred seemed a small price to pay for a more secure racial identity. And anyway, wasn't this hatred more rhetorical than real?

But now the floodlight of a presidential campaign has trained on this usually hidden corner of contemporary black life: a mindless indulgence in a rhetorical anti-Americanism as a way of bonding and of asserting one's blackness. Yet Jeremiah Wright, splashed across America's television screens, has shown us that there is no real difference between rhetorical hatred and real hatred."

Steele acknowledges the "rhetorical hatred and real hatred" of this Afro-American pastor, but I'm curious as to what his reaction was when the most famous white pastor, who had a following of hundred of thousands in the US, blamed Americans for 9/11, called the Reverend Billy Graham a "servant of Satan," and denigrated homosexuals in the most vile of terms--blaming them for all of America's ills.

I wonder if Mr. Steele remained silent over the rantings and ravings of the idiotic, divisive white pastor, Jerry Falwell (NOTE: Like Mr. Steele, the late Pastor Falwell, was afterall, a conservative Republican), and his enabler, Pat Robertson. Mr. Steele is certainly quick to point out how dangerous it is for this country to look to Senator Obama for leadership because he has belonged to Pastor Wright's church for 20 years. Pastors Falwell and Robertson were good, good friends of the Bush Administration, even to the point of Mr. Robertson's being an advisor to it. But Mr. Steele's hypocrisy allows him to be shocked by Obama's friendship with Pastor Wright. Nowhere in this article does he make mention of the same sort of behavior by the white Republican pastors. This is hypocrisy of the first magnitude.

I wonder if Mr. Steele ever asked how the conservative whites (or blacks) who listened to Pastors Falwell, Robertson, Hagee, and Schaeffer could transcend their hateful, inflammatory sermons and blatherings? Who could sit year after year in their churches and listen to their hate-speeches and bigotry against fellow Americans and not internalize that hatred?

Steele chalks up all of Senator Obama's successes to the yearning of whites to be rid of their guilt over the shame of slavery--to be on the right side of destiny. And that Senator Obama's success has been through his manipulation of this white guilt.

No sir, I don't see it that way. I see Senator Obama's successes as a result of people looking at the content of his character, not the color of his skin.

There will be many more thousands of words written over the phenomenon of Senator Obama's ascendency to the highest reaches of American political life, but I don't think I'll read anything as small minded, sneering, and hypocritial as this piece is.

A BREAK FROM POLITICS

I'm taking a break from the low art of politics and refreshing my heart with some gorgeous Bellini music and the high art of opera.

The highest form of the performing arts is opera, where there is a convergence of great symphonic music, set design (Marc Chagall designed sets and costumes for the opera), ballet, and the most extraordinary of all, the human voice.

Here is a clip from what was called the Concert of the Century, (I believe it was recorded in the early 1980s) featuring Dame Joan Sutherland, soprano, Marilyn Horne, mezzo soprano, and Lucianno Pavarotti, tenor. They're singing the trio from the first act of Vincenzo Bellini's sublime bel canto opera, "Norma."

Enjoy.

OBAMA REPUDIATES REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT

FROM BARACK OBAMA:

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

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


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

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

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

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

Let me repeat what I've said earlier. All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this country.
With Rev. Wright's retirement and the ascension of my new pastor, Rev. Otis Moss, III, Michelle and I look forward to continuing a relationship with a church that has done so much good. And while Rev. Wright's statements have pained and angered me, I believe that Americans will judge me not on the basis of what someone else said, but on the basis of who I am and what I believe in; on my values, judgment and experience to be President of the United States."

Source: The Huffington Post

ANTI-EVOLUTION FLORIDA

(Click on comic for larger image.)

With the aid of Florida lawmakers, Allen Hayes, and Ronda Storms, Ben Stein is putting his money where his anti-science beliefs are and making a documentary--it will out in April.

The purpose of the documentary will be to sell Florida lawmakers on just how bad their new teaching standards are that include the word evolution.

Stein's buddy, Allen Hayes, had this to say:

"I want a balanced policy. I want students taught how to think, not what to think," Hayes says. "There are problems with evolution. Have you ever seen a half-monkey, half human?"

Good luck, Ben Stein, to you and your idiotic, anti-evolution ninnies.

OBAMA INCREASES DELEGATE LEAD WITH MISSISSIPPI WIN

Barack Obama triumphed in a racially divided Mississippi primary today by winning about 90% of black votes and a third of white voters.

He also won last week's Texas caucuses, scoring more state delegates overall than primary-winner Hillary Clinton.

Mississippi awards 33 delegates and Texas 193 in their respective state races. •

Obama has beaten Clinton in contests across the South—South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana—all states where black voters made a strong show in his favor.

Mississippi exit polls showed that nearly half of voters were black, a fifth were independent, and one in 10 Republican.

Mississippi is the last contest before Pennsylvania's whopping 188-delegate primary next month.

BUSH, CHENEY, ET. AL. LIED, ACCORDING TO PENTAGON REPORT

"A Pentagon-sponsored study of captured Iraqi intelligence archives has been unable to find a single operational link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden or his al-Qaeda network, reports the McClatchy newspapers.

The study will be released this week and is expected to refuel debate over the US justification for invading Iraq. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld once described evidence for links between the two as "bulletproof." • Then-Secretary of State Colin Powell also cited several links—which turned out to be based on misinterpreted or bogus intelligence—in a key 2003 speech to the UN to build support for the invasion. The study exhaustively trawled through 600,000 Iraqi documents captured by the US. The finding were sifted through a lengthy process of declassification before they could be shared with Congress. The

The Pentagon-sponsored study, scheduled for release later this week, did confirm that Saddam's regime provided some support to other terrorist groups, particularly in the Middle East, U.S. officials told McClatchy. However, his security services were directed primarily against Iraqi exiles, Shiite Muslims, Kurds and others he considered enemies of his regime.

The new study of the Iraqi regime's archives found no documents indicating a "direct operational link" between Hussein's Iraq and al Qaida before the invasion, according to a U.S. official familiar with the report. He and others spoke to McClatchy on condition of anonymity because the study isn't due to be shared with Congress and released before Wednesday."


Source: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/29959.html

Of course, this isn't new. Here's the report in the Washington Post in 2004:

"The Iraq Connection Al Qaeda-Hussein Link Is Dismissed
By Walter Pincus and Dana MilbankWashington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, June 17, 2004; Page A01

The Sept. 11 commission reported yesterday that it has found no "collaborative relationship" between Iraq and al Qaeda, challenging one of the Bush administration's main justifications for the war in Iraq.

"Along with the contention that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, President Bush, Vice President Cheney and other top administration officials have often asserted that there were extensive ties between Hussein's government and Osama bin Laden's terrorist network; earlier this year, Cheney said evidence of a link was "overwhelming."

[skip]

As recently as Monday, Cheney said in a speech that Hussein "had long-established ties with al Qaeda."

Senator Barack Obama warned against going to war in Iraq. He showed exceptionally good judgment, while Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld were either willfully uninformed, or just plain lying.

This report proves that Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld and the lot of them lied to the American people to gain support to go to war in Iraq.

Why these people have not been impeached is still a mystery to me.

This country got its knickers in a twist over Bill Clinton's famous "I did not have sex with that woman," and yet accepts the fact that BushCo. lied to get Congress and the American people to accept his illegal and immoral war.

Bush is a criminal far worse than Clinton.

The American people are dupes of the first order for being taken in by the lies of Bush, Cheney, et al.

And the US media are even worse. They are supposed to be a check on this sort of unchecked power and use of propaganda.

BushCo. and the American media failed the American people.

It is time for a change.

THE CONTEST BETWEEN CLINTON AND OBAMA, SO FAR

Click on the image for a larger view:

OBAMA STILL AHEAD IN DELEGATE COUNT DESPITE HILLARY'S 3 WINS!

UPDATE II:

Obama gains more supers
Posted: Thursday, March 06, 2008 4:55 PM by Domenico Montanaro

From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro

Obama gained two more superdelegates today --
NV State Party Vice Chairwoman Teresa Benitez-Thompson and Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV).

This brings the delegate total to: Obama 1,581-Clinton 1,481
Superdelegates: Clinton 254-Obama 215

NBC Hard Count: Obama 1,366-Clinton 1,227

There are 21 delegates unallocated, including 10 in Texas, 9 in Colorado, 1 in Hawaii and 1 Abroad.

Here's the March 4th breakdown:TX: Clinton 92-91 (+1 for Clinton, with 10 delegates from the caucuses still unallocated)OH: Clinton 75-66 (+9 for Clinton)RI: Clinton 13-8 (+5 for Clinton)VT: Obama 9-6 (+3 for Obama)

This gives Clinton a +12 net delegate gain out of March 4th and could be trimmed slightly because of those TX caucuses delegates still to be allocated.



UPDATE from the Obama campaign:


Our projections show the most likely outcome of yesterday's elections will be that Hillary Clinton gained 187 delegates, and we gained 183.


That's a net gain of 4 delegates out of more than 370 delegates available from all the states that voted.


For comparison, that's less than half our net gain of 9 delegates from the District of Columbia alone. It's also less than our net gain of 8 from Nebraska, or 12 from Washington State. And it's considerably less than our net gain of 33 delegates from Georgia.


The task for the Clinton campaign yesterday was clear. In order to have a plausible path to the nomination, they needed to score huge delegate victories and cut into our lead.


They failed.


It's clear, though, that Senator Clinton wants to continue an increasingly desperate, increasingly negative -- and increasingly expensive -- campaign to tear us down.



That's her decision. But it's not stopping John McCain, who clinched the Republican nomination last night, from going on the offensive. He's already made news attacking Barack, and that will only become more frequent in the coming days.


Right now, it's essential for every single supporter of Barack Obama to step up and help fight this two-front battle. In the face of attacks from Hillary Clinton and John McCain, we need to be ready to take them on.





Out of the last 15 primaries, Hillary Clinton has won 3.

THREE.

Is that momentum?

No. It isn't. There's more to go.

This is for Senator Obama:

RUSH LIMBAUGH SPEAKS AGAIN!

"We need Barack Obama bloodied up politically. It's obvious that the Republicans are not going to do it—they don't have the stomach for it," he [Limbaugh] said.

There it is, friends. The conservatives' political discourse, and its chief promoter of slime.

This is precisely what Senator Obama wants to change.

But Limbaugh and his Repugnant ilk want to keep things dirty and loathsome.

I understand. Afterall, Rush is the warthog of radio talk hosts, and we all know what sort of filth hogs like to wallow in.

Additional comments by Limbaugh:

During the February 29 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, guest host Laura Ingraham interviewed Rush Limbaugh, who said, referring to a photograph of Sen. Barack Obama dressed in traditional Somali clothing that was recently posted on the Drudge Report, that Obama "look[ed] like Ayman [al-]Zawahiri," Osama bin Laden's chief collaborator.

On the January 7 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh falsely asserted that if "you look at" the legislative record of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), "you won't find a Senate bill with his name on it."

In fact, as Media Matters for America has noted, Obama was the primary sponsor of a bill in the 109th Congress (S.2125) to "promote relief, security, and democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo," which was signed into law by President Bush on December 22, 2006.

In addition, Obama was a key co-sponsor of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (S.2590), also of the 109th Congress. In a statement while signing the bill into law on September 26, 2006, Bush recognized Obama as a sponsor of the legislation, saying: "I want to thank the bill sponsors, Tom Coburn from Oklahoma, Tom Carper from Delaware, and Barack Obama from Illinois."

From 2006 elections:

Parkinson's disease has become the latest battleground in the American midterm elections, with the rightwing talk radio host Rush Limbaugh locked in an unseemly wrangle with the actor and Parkinson's sufferer Michael J Fox.
Limbaugh was forced to apologise to the actor after he accused Fox of exaggerating the symptoms of his illness in an election television advert. "He's either off his medication or acting. He is an actor after all," Limbaugh said in his broadcast on Monday.

Hours later the talkshow host was forced to retract. "I will bigly, hugely admit that I was wrong," he said.

Source

And this comment by Limbaugh during the Clinton years. It illustrates the kind of malevolence he loves and, apparently, his followers enjoy. Imagine going after a 12-year old girl's looks on national teevee and humiliating her in front of millions of people. What a guy.

"Everyone knows the Clintons have a cat. Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is a White House dog?" And he puts up a picture of Chelsea Clinton. Chelsea Clinton is 12 years old. (1993)

And finally, the putative Republican nominee in all his tough-guy, hero glory, picking on a young girl and ridculing her in front of an audience. What a guy!:

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno."
-- Sen. John McCain, speaking to a Republican dinner, June 1998.

What is it with Republicans and Chelsea Clinton?

WELCOME MARCH! ON TO TEXAS, OHIO, VERMONT, RHODE ISLAND!

photo by Jason Butler, Franklin Park Zoo, Boston, Mass.


Lions are just overgrown pussycats.

Two guys, Ace Berg and John Rendall, raised a lion cub whom they named Christian, but sadly he got too big for them to take care of, so they decided to release him in Kenya, to live as a wild lion. In this footage, a year has passed and it looks like Christian's adapted to living with a pride of lions when his old friends come back to visit him. Watch closely and you can see the look of pure disbelief that dawns on his muzzle - it's awesome.

THE REAL JOHN SIDNEY MC CAIN, III, BIGOT ADMIRER

h/t NYProgressive: http://irregulartimes.com/index.php

MC CAIN HONORED TO HAVE THE ENDORSEMENT OF RIGHT WING BIGOT, JOHN HAGEE

In the last debate between Senators Clinton and Obama, Timmeh Russert asked Senator Obama very carefully if he accepted the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan, and Obama made it clear that he did not.

Now comes the crazy, rightwing bigot John Hagee, who passes himself off as a pastor. A pastor!

He's a bona fide asshole and idiot who somehow has found a home in the heart and minds of the Christian right. Here are some of his crazed rantings that presidential candidate John Sidney McCain, III, is so pleased to have on his side:

"All Muslims are programmed to kill and we can thus never negotiate with any of them. From an NPR interview Hagee gave to Terry Gross in 2006.

JH: All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that. "

...a confrontation with Iran is a necessary precondition for Armageddon (which will mean the death of most Jews, in his eyes) and the Second Coming of Christ."

And Hagee's opinion of the Catholic Church:

'The Great Whore,' an 'apostate church,' the 'anti-Christ,' and a 'false cult system' . . . "

And the Jewish Religion:

"Jews had been responsible for their persecution throughout history because of a failure to properly accept God."

Harry Potter books:

"The whole purpose of the Potter books is to desensitize readers and introduce them to the occult."

The conservatives have no problem with the demented rantings of a seriously deranged lunatic.

I wonder if Timmeh will ask John Sidney McCain, III, about this most illustrious endorsement that he has received from the raving maniac, Hagee.

He has defamed two of America's religious institutions. Why has no one come out and asked John Sidney McCain, III, how he in good conscience can accept the endorsement of a Catholic and Jew hater.

WHO ARE THESE NINETEEN PERCENTERS?????

Yes, he's still the president - but America doesn't have to like it. Last week the American Research Group released its latest poll results, and found that George W. Bush's overall job approval rating is currently... wait for it...

19%

Bush has now beaten his father's anemic 29%, Richard Nixon's resignation-eve 24%, and Harry Truman's all-time-low of 23%. Yes, Our Great Leader is truly sprinting to the finish line - but only to escape the angry mob who are in hot pursuit.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/top10/326

HOW THE SLIMES ON THE RIGHT HOPE TO RUN A CAMPAIGN AGAINST SENATOR OBAMA

HALPERIN’S TAKE:
Things McCain Can Do to Try to Beat Obama That Clinton Cannot
by Mark Halperin, TIME Magazine




Things McCain can do when running against Obama that Clinton has been unable to do well or at all:

1. Play the national security card without hesitation.

2. Talk about the Iraq War without apologies or perceived contradiction.

3. Go at Obama unambiguously from the right.

4. Encourage interest groups, bloggers, and right-leaning media to explore Obama’s past.

5. Make an issue of Obama’s acknowledged drug use.

6. Allow some supporters to risk being accused of using the race card when criticizing Obama.

7. Exploit Michelle Obama’s mistakes and address her controversial remarks with unrestricted censure.

8. Play dirty without alienating his party.

9. Dismiss Obama’s brief national tenure from his own lofty platform of decades in the Senate – there will be no ambiguity about who has more experience as conventionally defined.

10. Use his sterling war record to reinforce his image of patriotism and valor – and contrast it with his opponent’s.

11. Emphasize Barack Hussein Obama’s unusual name and exotic background through a Manchurian Candidate prism.

12. Employ third party groups like the NRA to hit Obama on issues that might turn off general election voters. Perhaps an ad such as this will run in Ohio: “So, what do you really know about Barack Obama? Did you know he supports meeting with the head of terrorist states? Do you know he wants to get rid of your right to own a handgun? Do you know he is calling for the repeal of the law preventing gay marriage? Do you know he is for a trillion-dollar tax increase? What do you really know about Barack Obama?”

13. Face an electorate less consumed with “change change change” (the main priority for Democratic voters) and keenly interested in “ready from day one” as an equally important ideal.

14. Link biography (experience/courage) and leadership (straight talk) to a vision animated by detail – accentuating Obama’s relative lack of specificity.

15. Give Obama his first real race against a credible Republican. (Clinton has always asserted that Obama would wilt before a fierce Republican assault.)

16. Confront Obama with a united, focused campaign absent of second-guessing, which hits the same themes and message every day.

Barack Obama's Accomplishments as Illinois State and US Senator

UPDATE, Feb. 25, 2008

The redoubtable Neponset from Atrios' comments at Eschaton has this to add:

"What's Obama done? Just this:As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, he co-sponsored bipartisan legislation for controlling conventional weapons and for promoting greater public accountability in the use of federal funds. He also made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In the current 110th Congress, he has sponsored legislation on lobbying and electoral fraud, climate change, nuclear terrorism, and care for returned U.S. military personnel. As of February 21, 2008, Obama had sponsored or co-sponsored 570 bills in the 109th and 110th Congress, of which 15 have become lawEnough. --Neponset 02.25.08 - 12:32 pm"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Original post:

I'm tired of hearing the lazies ask what has Barack Obama accomplished.

Even the melon-headed Tweety of Hardball is too lazy to find out for himself, so he played "gotcha" with an unsuspecting Texas state legislator.

What has Barack Obama accomplished? For those of you too busy to look for yourselves, see below.

From Democratic Underground:

What has Barack Obama ever accomplished?

"Some Say" that those who support Obama do so without a clue, and do so because of a "Svengali" effect his has on his "cult".I say that it is unfortunate, in this age of the Internet, that folks aren’t able to inform themselves, yet are able to post on a Political blog to have a say.I have done my research on Sen. Obama, and so have many of the others who support him. Maybe that is why he is attracting the most educated progressives in this nation; maybe it is because they do their homework, and do not rely on name recognition to determine whom to vote for.So to inform you, please note the following articles that sum up some of what Barack has “done” in his last 11 years in public office.

Considering that Obama may be the Democratic Nominee, I believe that it is important for you, as a public voice, to be informed:His bold legislative work on the Illinois Death Penalty, and how he made a difference between life and death:http://www.icadp.org/page236.html http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/12/obama.death.penalty.ap /

His sponsorship of a bill that brought health insurance to 150,000, including 70,000 uninsured Children, again, during his time serving in the Illinois Statehouse: http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck/2007/12/14/fact_check_on_milbanks_claim_t.php http://mediamatters.org/items/200712170003

His work on both the Immigration bill during his time in the US senate and his sponsorship of Ethics legislation (something he did both while in the State House, and in the Senate) that called for some of the most impactful reform regarding lobbyists since Watergate (as he likes to term it):http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck/2007/12/14/fact_check_on_milbanks_claim_t.php http://feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/releases/07/01/200...

And the rest is here:

ANOTHER WIN FOR OBAMA! THAT'S 11 STRAIGHT!

Obama wins global primary

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER

Associated Press WASHINGTON

February 21, 2008

Barack Obama won the Democrats Abroad global primary in results announced Thursday, giving him 11 straight victories in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Illinois senator won the primary in which Democrats living in other countries voted by Internet, mail and in person.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has not won a nominating contest since Super Tuesday, more than two weeks ago.

More than 20,000 U.S. citizens living abroad voted in the primary, which ran from Feb. 5 to Feb. 12. Obama won about 65 percent of the vote, according to results released by the Democrats Abroad, an organization sanctioned by the national party.

Voters living in 164 countries cast votes online, while expatriates voted in person in more than 30 countries, at hotels in Australia and Costa Rica, at a pub in Ireland and at a Starbucks in Thailand. The results took about a week to tabulate as local committees around the globe gathered ballots.

"This really gives Americans an opportunity to participate," said Christine Schon Marques, the international chair of Democrats Abroad.
There is no comparable primary among Republicans, though the GOP has several contests this weekend in U.S. territories, including party caucuses in Puerto Rico Sunday.

Obama's win comes just two days after he defeated Clinton in a primary in Wisconsin and caucuses in Hawaii. He leads Clinton 1,351 delegates to 1,262 delegates, not including the 7 delegates yet to be awarded based on the global primary voting results.

OBAMA WINS BIG IN WISCONSIN! ON TO TEXAS!

By John Whitesides

Political Correspondent

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama easily beat rival Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin on Tuesday, extending his U.S. presidential winning streak and putting pressure on Clinton to win next month in Ohio and Texas to salvage her campaign.

The Obama win in Wisconsin pushed his hot streak to nine straight victories in Democratic nominating contests. Democrats in Hawaii, where Obama was born and is a heavy favorite, also were voting on Tuesday.

As the results rolled in, both Democrats already were looking ahead to March 4 showdowns in two of the biggest states, Texas and Ohio, which have a rich lode of 334 convention delegates at stake and where Clinton needs wins to stay alive.

"The change we seek is still months and miles away, and we need the good people of Texas to help get us there," Obama said at a rally in Houston after noting his win in Wisconsin.

Up for grabs in Wisconsin and Hawaii were a combined 94 delegates to the August convention that selects the Democratic presidential nominee in November's election. Obama has a slight lead in pledged delegates won in state presidential contests.

COULTER SPEAKS

Coulter explains why she is "trying to associate [Obama] with Saddam Hussein?": "Because I think it's funny"

On Hannity & Colmes, Alan Colmes asked Ann Coulter, "Why do you keep emphasizing his [Sen. Barack Obama's] middle name as if you're trying to associate him with Saddam Hussein?" Coulter replied, "Because I think it's funny." During the interview, Coulter referred to Obama as "B. Hussein Obama" twice and injected: "Get ready for President Hussein, and let's start planning for the next president."

Hey, Coulter! I think it's funny to associate you with Asshole.

Very funny. A.=Asshole Coulter. Get ready for Asshole on all the cable chatter shows and let's start planning to laugh at it.

ON TO WISCONSIN!

MADISON, WI – Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle today endorsed Barack Obama for President, citing his ability to build a coalition of Democrats, independents, and Republicans that will win in November, and finally deal with big challenges like delivering affordable health care for all Americans, expanding access to education, and bringing fiscal responsibility to Washington.

“As a Governor, I am impressed that Barack Obama has shown leadership qualities throughout his 20 years in public service that are essential for an effective executive,” said Governor Jim Doyle. “Obama listens to competing points of view, but makes strong decisions; he identifies problems, and builds coalitions to confront them; and he inspires people to come together behind a vision of change. He has campaigned like he will govern, by bringing people together and inspiring average Americans to participate in the political process so that we can take on the special interests and the great challenges we face.”

Governor Doyle also called Obama the Democrat who gives the party the best chance to win back the White House: “Obama is in the strongest position to win battleground states like Wisconsin in November and to boost the Democratic majority because he puts problem solving ahead of partisan squabbling.”

“When Washington produced gridlock instead of providing affordable health care coverage and expanding access to education, Governor Doyle delivered in Wisconsin,” said Senator Obama. “Faced with a budget crisis and a tough economic climate, Jim Doyle united Democrats and Republicans to get things done. I’m grateful for Governor Doyle’s endorsement -- he knows what it takes to win, and to unite Americans to govern effectively in a nation that has been divided for too long.”

First elected in 2002, Jim Doyle is serving his second term as the Governor of Wisconsin. Doyle inherited the largest budget deficit in Wisconsin history – a $3.2 billion hole, and he balanced the budget as he worked to make education more affordable and expand health care coverage. By expanding Wisconsin’s BadgerCare program, Doyle’s plan will make affordable health insurance available to 98 percent of all Wisconsin residents, the highest rate in the nation.
In the 2004 presidential election, Wisconsin went Democratic by .4% of the vote, the smallest margin of any state. Governor Doyle was reelected in 2006 with more votes than any Governor in Wisconsin history.

MC CAIN BACKS TORTURE!

Pass the popcorn! All the radical right-wing, radio talk ninnies are out for John McCain's head. As are their faithful followers. They detest McCain because he wants to reach across the aisle for consensus so that we can get this country back on its feet after 8 years of Bush incompetence and national shame. And the goopers hate him for that.

But wait! This just in! McCain backed legislation that says torture is okay! So maybe the goopers will embrace him now that he has done a major flip-flop on a fundamental issue--torture. Torture of all things. Shame on McCain!

Senator McCain, as a former POW, is particularly sensitive to the issue of detention and interrogation of detainees from the War on Terror. On October 3, 2005, Senator McCain introduced the McCain Detainee Amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill for 2005. On October 5, 2005, the United States Senate voted 90-9 to support the amendment.

This amendment would establish the US Army Field Manual on Interrogation as the standard for interrogation of all detainees held in Department of Defense custody, including those held by the Central Intelligence Agency. The amendment would prohibit cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment and follow sections of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Amendment was initially opposed by the Bush administration, particularly Vice-President Dick Cheney. Before the vote supporting the amendment, the White House threatened to veto any language limiting the use of torture on suspected terrorists. However, due to the size of the majority voting in favor, this was not an option. The White House then sought alternative language which would exempt CIA operatives from the torture ban. The Senate refused the compromise.

On December 15, President Bush announced that he accepted McCain's terms and will "make it clear to the world that this government does not torture and that we adhere to the international convention of torture, whether it be here at home or abroad." Nevertheless, President Bush can interpret the law "in a manner consistent with his own constitutional authority." In his signing statement, or interpretation of the law, President Bush reserves what he interprets to be his constitutional right to torture in order to avoid further terrorist attacks.

Senator McCain's Newsweek Article: "Torture's Terrible Toll".

Terror detainee treatment legislation
In September 2006, McCain drew attention when he joined with fellow Republicans John Warner (R-Va.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to oppose legislation backed by the Bush Administration that would have given the government wide freedoms in the treatment, interrogation and prosecution of terror detainees. In addition, the legislation would have included a reinterpretation of the U.S. duties under the Geneva convention. The three senators proposed their own, more moderate legislation dealing with the same issue.

On September 21, the three dissenting senators reached a compromise with the White House which included many of the provisions from the administration's initial bill, but eliminated the use of secret evidence unavailable to the defense during terror trials and any explicit reinterpretation of the Geneva Convention.

Source: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_McCain

But:

With his "no" vote yesterday on the Senate bill to ban waterboarding by the CIA, John McCain caved in the face of yet another betrayal by George W. Bush. President Bush, after all, stabbed McCain in the back with a 2005 signing statement that defanged the Detainee Treatment Act the now-presumptive GOP presidential nominee championed in the Senate. But in his never-ending quest to appease his party's conservative base, McCain revealed that no humiliation at the hands of George Bush is too great.

By a 51-45 vote, the Senate approved an intelligence bill that would restrict the CIA in its interrogation techniques, banning waterboarding and limiting the agency to 19 less aggressive tactics outlined in the U.S. Army Field Manual. But after the House passed similar legislation in December, the White House predictably promised a veto, arguing the bill "would prevent the United States from conducting lawful interrogations of senior al Qaeda terrorists to obtain intelligence needed to protect Americans from attack."

Just as predictably, John McCain kowtowed to the White House in just his latest affirmation of a de facto Bush third term. As the Washington Post noted:
But McCain sided with the Bush administration yesterday on the waterboarding ban passed by the Senate, saying in a statement that the measure goes too far by applying military standards to intelligence agencies. He also said current laws already forbid waterboarding, and he urged the administration to declare it illegal.

"Staging a mock execution by inducing the misperception of drowning is a clear violation" of laws and treaties, McCain said.

Source: http://www.perrspectives.com/blog/archives/000936.htm

AWESOME!!

Anne Davies

Washington

February 13, 2008

DEMOCRAT presidential hopeful Barack Obama begins his assault on the next round of states with momentum on his side after massive wins in the Potomac primaries, which catapulted him to the lead on the delegate count and showed he was winning over Senator Hillary Clinton's support base.

Polls were kept open for an extra hour in the District of Columbia and Maryland after snow and icy conditions made roads treacherous. But even before they reported, it was clear that Senator Obama was heading for thumping victories.
In Virginia, expected to be Senator Clinton's strongest state, he outpolled her by 63% of the vote to 36%.

Democratic analyst Donna Brazile said the Obama campaign had been expecting to win about 20 delegates in Virginia, but would now be closer to 30.
There is now no doubt that Senator Obama is ahead on delegates won at primaries, and he may even be ahead on the overall delegate count, which includes superdelegates — governors, party officials and former presidents who make up roughly 20% of the votes at the convention.

Some of these are yet to declare their hand.

But the most worrying signs for Senator Clinton were in the details of exit polls from Virginia. It has a much smaller African-American population than DC or Maryland — only about 20% — and so was seen as Senator Clinton's best chance.

But Senator Obama achieved his win with a significant white vote and a majority of the female vote, until now Senator Clinton's two strongest demographics.

According to CNN, Senator Obama got 48% of the white vote to Senator Clinton's 51%. Women in Virginia voted for him 58% to 42%, and he topped up his vote by winning 90% of African Americans.

In Maryland, Senator Obama won with 68% of the vote, while in DC, which has a majority African-American population, he won with 76%, making it eight wins in a row.

"This is what change looks like when it happens from the bottom up," he told roaring supporters in a huge rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he is already campaigning. "This is the new American majority."

Ms Brazile said this showed Senator Obama was now a "transcendent" candidate.

More Wins for Obama!

Barack Obama wins big! Nebraska, Washington and Louisiana!

On to Virginia!

MSNBC: SUBSTANTIAL WIN FOR OBAMA IN SOUTH CAROLINA!

COLUMBIA, S.C. - NBC News declared Sen. Barack Obama as the projected winner in South Carolina's Democratic primary.

Obama won South Carolina by a substantial margin, with Hillary Rodham Clinton running second and John Edwards third, NBC reported.
Obama reached out for victory over Clinton in a racially charged primary, a prelude to the Feb. 5 coast-to-coast competition for more than 1,600 national convention delegates.

South Carolina's primary offered 45 Democratic National Convention delegates, as well as the campaign's first indication of Obama's political appeal in a state with a large black population.

Interviews with voters as they left their polling places indicated about half the electorate was black.

Half the voters said the economy was the most important issue in the race. About one quarter picked health care. And only one in five said it was the war in Iraq, underscoring the extent to which the once-dominant issue has faded in the face of financial concerns.

Roughly half the voters said former President Clinton's campaigning for his wife was very important to their choice.

The exit poll was conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International for The Associated Press and the networks.

THE TRAGEDY THAT IS BUSH

From Harpers Magazine by Scott Horton:

George W. Bush is famous for his attachment to a painting which he acquired after becoming a “born again Christian.” It’s by W.H.D. Koerner and is entitled “A Charge to Keep.” Bush was so taken by it, that he took the painting’s name for his own official autobiography. And here’s what he says about it:

"I thought I would share with you a recent bit of Texas history which epitomizes our mission. When you come into my office, please take a look at the beautiful painting of a horseman determinedly charging up what appears to be a steep and rough trail. This is us. What adds complete life to the painting for me is the message of Charles Wesley that we serve One greater than ourselves. "

So in Bush’s view (or perhaps I should say, faith) the key figure, with whom he personally identifies, is a missionary spreading the word of the Methodist Christianity in the American West in the late nineteenth century.

[snip]

So Bush’s description of “A Charge to Keep” struck me as very strange. In fact, I’d say highly improbable. Now, however, Jacob Weisberg has solved the mystery. He invested the time to track down the commission behind the art work and he gives us the full story in his forthcoming book on Bush, The Bush Tragedy:

[Bush] came to believe that the picture depicted the circuit-riders who spread Methodism across the Alleghenies in the nineteenth century. In other words, the cowboy who looked like Bush was a missionary of his own denomination.

Only that is not the title, message, or meaning of the painting. The artist, W.H.D. Koerner, executed it to illustrate a Western short story entitled “The Slipper Tongue,” published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1916. The story is about a smooth-talking horse thief who is caught, and then escapes a lynch mob in the Sand Hills of Nebraska. The illustration depicts the thief fleeing his captors. In the magazine, the illustration bears the caption: “Had His Start Been Fifteen Minutes Longer He Would Not Have Been Caught.”

So Bush’s inspiring, prosyletizing Methodist is in fact a silver-tongued horse thief fleeing from a lynch mob. It seems a fitting marker for the Bush presidency. Bush has consistently exhibited what psychologists call the “Tolstoy syndrome.” That is, he is completely convinced he knows what things are, so he shuts down all avenues of inquiry about them and disregards the information that is offered to him. This is the hallmark of a tragically bad executive. But in this case, it couldn’t be more precious. The president of the United States has identified closely with a man he sees as a mythic, heroic figure. But in fact he’s a wily criminal one step out in front of justice. It perfectly reflects Bush the man. . . and Bush the president.

TO HELP YOU IN THE ELECTION PROCESS

Tom Toles via The Washington Post (a little bit dated, i.e., Fred Thompson) But still good.

STUDY SHOWS BUSH & CO. LIED, MISLED THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

The Center for Public Integrity

WASHINGTON (A/P)—A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."

The study was posted Tuesday on the Web site of the Center for Public Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence in Journalism.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel did not comment on the merits of the study Tuesday night but reiterated the administration's position that the world community viewed Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein, as a threat.

"The actions taken in 2003 were based on the collective judgment of intelligence agencies around the world," Stanzel said.

The study counted 935 false statements in the two-year period. It found that in speeches, briefings, interviews and other venues, Bush and administration officials stated unequivocally on at least 532 occasions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to produce or obtain them or had links to al-Qaida or both.

"It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al-Qaida," according to Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith of the Fund for Independence in Journalism staff members, writing an overview of the study. "In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003."

Named in the study along with Bush were top officials of the administration during the period studied: Vice President Dick Cheney, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan.
Bush led with 259 false statements, 231 about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 28 about Iraq's links to al-Qaida, the study found. That was second only to Powell's 244 false statements about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 10 about Iraq and al-Qaida.

The center said the study was based on a database created with public statements over the two years beginning on Sept. 11, 2001, and information from more than 25 government reports, books, articles, speeches and interviews.

"The cumulative effect of these false statements -- amplified by thousands of news stories and broadcasts -- was massive, with the media coverage creating an almost impenetrable din for several critical months in the run-up to war," the study concluded.

"Some journalists -- indeed, even some entire news organizations -- have since acknowledged that their coverage during those prewar months was far too deferential and uncritical. These mea culpas notwithstanding, much of the wall-to-wall media coverage provided additional, 'independent' validation of the Bush administration's false statements about Iraq," it said.

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN...

Our long national nightmare is almost over.

Just one more year! Good riddance to George W Bush

But what kind of mess will the next president inherit, exactly 12 months from today?

By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
Published: 20 January 2008

Arabia is the land of illusion and desert mirages. And as he jetted last week from kingdom to sheikdom, to be regaled with feasts and falcons, jewels and ornamental swords, George Bush might have imagined that all was well with his presidency. But this, his longest and most ambitious trip to the Middle East, will surely be remembered – if it is remembered at all – as a gaudy, irrelevant footnote to a presidency that has long since failed.

Today is a sombre milestone, marking the start of the last of Mr Bush's eight years in the White House. This being a leap year, exactly 366 days remain until 20 January 2009, when his successor will be sworn into office. It is a time when incumbents look to their legacies. And for this President the view could scarcely be bleaker.

Is he the worst President in US history? Mr Bush faces stiff competition from the likes of James Buchanan, who watched as America slipped towards civil war, or Warren Harding with his corrupt administration, or Herbert Hoover, who failed to halt the slide into the Great Depression, or, more recently, Richard Nixon, the only President to be forced to resign. But in terms of dogmatism, incompetence, ignorance and divisiveness, Mr Bush surely compares with any of the above.

Read the rest here: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article3353777.ece#2008-01-20T00:00:01-00:00

LIMBAUGH THE RACIST, PART II

A few weeks ago Limbaugh played his "parody" song "Barack the Magic Negro" on his program. I posted on it and a commenter suggested it was more of a polemic than a racist parody.

Well here's Limbaugh again, commenting on Senator Obama campaign strategy:

Rush Limbaugh:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/01/15/limbaugh-gets-his-spade-and-hoe-work-in-for-obama/

Limbaugh: Obama is holding his own against both of them–doing more than his share of the “spade” work. Maybe even gaining ground at the moment. Using not only the spade ladies and gentleman—that when he finishes with the “spade” in the garden of corruption planted by the Clinton’s, he turns to the “hoe.” And so the spade work and his expertise using a hoe.

Is it a coincidence that Limbaugh used the word "spade" four times and the word "hoe" twice in that short "polemic?"

Words have meaning. Barack Obama is African-American, and Limbaugh used "spade" and "hoe"--code words that denigrate African-American men and women--to describe Senator Obama's campaign strategy.

Where's the outrage from the Jesus-loving, white and black Christians?

*crickets*

Limbaugh's followers have been listening to his sewerage that passes for commentary for years now, and they think he's a great man who "tells it like it is." I suppose our country will always have racists who need someone to affirm their minority ideas and values. Let them have this piece of slime to represent them. They deserve each other.

In a nation of 300 million people, 280 million of us think he's crap. We're the majority who must, from time to time, have our eyes and ears assaulted by this very small-minded, insecure gasbag.

MIKE HUCKABEE IS INSANE

Mick Huckabee is not qualified to be president.

He has no understanding of the Constitution. Here is what he said today:

"I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution," Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. "But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that's what we need to do -- to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view."

What exactly does he mean by "God's standards?" The Ten Commandments? Well. Those are the laws Moses said he got from God, right? Does Huckabee really think that Congress will amend the Constitution to include the commandments that say, for example, "I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no false god before me?" That would mean Huckabee would have to criminalize everyone who does not accept the God of the Christian, Jews, and Muslims. Not to mention the atheists.

What about keeping holy the sabbath? The Constitution would have to criminalize anyone and everyone who works on the sabbath. But whose sabbath? The Muslims' sabbath is Friday, the Jews' sabbath is Saturday, and the Christians' sabbath is Sunday. But it's God's law!! And then there's "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." Jesus Christ! If I remember correctly most of the punishments for breaking these laws of God are either stoning or death!

Honor thy mother and father. How? Define "honor." And what's the punishment?

I've read on some conservative blogs that they believe there is nothing in the Constitution that says we Americans have the right to freedom from religion. Well Huckabee must be their candidate, since by his very words, he wishes to not only inject religion into the Constitution, but to change the very fabric of American Constitutional law and make it conform to "God's laws."

I have yet to read anyone who challenged Huckabee when he made his pronouncement.

Does he really mean to convert this country into a theocracy? His words seem to say that is his goal.

Where are the evangelicals? Shouldn't they protest this most unAmerican idea?

*crickets*

I believe they agree with Huckabee and would see this country institute theocratical laws based on the Bible.

The idiocy of it all is that the far right decries the Muslims and the Koran, and yet they see nothing wrong with turning this country over to fundamental Christians who would destroy our Constitution.

Huckabee is not qualified to be president. He's insane.

LIMBAUGH THE RACIST

Rush Limbaugh is the darling of the conservative crowd. He's also a racist. They deserve each other. I look forward to the day when people like Limbaugh are relegated to the scumheap of history.

I've never understood how anyone with functioning brain cells could listen to this undereducated and overblown gasbag. Sadly, we have a lot of people in this country who do, and who think it's funny to make up songs about black people to mock them (with the real intent of "keeping them in their place").

Overprivleged white men have been doing it for years. And their time is coming to an end.

Thank Darwin.




From John Amato's "AMERICA BLOG."


BREAKING: Limbaugh’s “Barack the Magic Negro,” on-air song has workers up in arms

Rush Limbaugh has angered many black employees over this parody song called "Barack the Magic Negro" This isn't the first or the last time that Limbaugh will go after Obama's race:

I've been told that they have held meetings internally to deal with a ground swell of anger at Rush because of this.

UPDATE: I've anonymously confirmed that stations around the country who carry the show are having concerns expressed by listeners and even their own workers of color about the Obama parody, and the ensuing controversy in the media, and that respective managements are considering ways to address the matter with as little Imus-like backlash as possible,..This is starting to boil over…

A caller noticed there was a disclaimer added to the station she listens to and asks Rush why."

Happy 2008!

One year and 19 days from today George W. Bush will no longer be president.

Praise Darwin!

PEACE

Hope everyone has a happy holiday season.

PROGRESS, AMERICAN STYLE.

Sigh.

BOSTONIAN ESCHATONIAN, October 2007

Heh. Gavin doesn't know I'm watching him put small objects
in his nose.

I don't know why, but when I'm at Shaw's I feel an urge to put

this small object in my nose.

Chris Tucker: I don't put small objects in my nose. However, I do grow

medium-sized hair under it.

Don't ask me. I just came for the atmosphere. --res i.l.

Shaw, dreaming of a Sox shut-out.

Also in attendance was Echidne of the Snakes (and Mr. Echidne o.t. S.), and our Rudy. Unfortunately, the photos were over exposed. But I swear they were here!

BOSTONIAN ESCHATONIAN, October 2007

watertiger, Jay C.

Marita and Gavin, of Sadly, No!

Sir Foxbat

bill buckner, NTodd

ProfWombat

Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week

CONGRATULATIONS, AL. WELL DONE!

Al Gore shares Nobel Peace Prize

October 12, 2007

Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for work to raise awareness about global warming.