Must-Watch: Frank Luntz on Obama’s Speech

God loves Faux News.

Before you get too giddy about this guy check out his methods on Real Time With Bill Maher.

Always the know-it-all-better-than-the-rest-of-us snark. Try watching the videos (which is impossible, since you posted so quickly). Whether or not you like Luntz, LISTEN to what he says. No sentient person cannot help but agree with him this time.

ALSO read what Colin Powell said above about hate speech.

frank luntz is a paid republican liar

What Obama said in response to Imus’ “nappy-headed-ho’s” comment:

“There’s nobody on my staff who would still be working for me if they made a comment like that about anybody of any ethnic group. And I would hope that NBC ends up having that same attitude,” Obama told ABC News in an April 11 interview.

Obama said in the 2007 ABC interview he would never appear again on Imus’ show.

“He didn’t just cross the line,” Obama said. “He fed into some of the worst stereotypes that my two young daughters are having to deal with today in America.”

Yada yada yada. Keep your hands clapped over your ears.

Larry,

I have to tell you that I am disappointed with your posts lately and specifically this one.

I am a Clinton supporter as I think she is the most qualified.

However I will happily support Senator Obama and I feel you are hurting him and helping the party that has nearly destroyed our country.

Fuck Fox News and I hope you never link to them again. Sean Hannity is a horses ass and a phony and is bad for our country.

Peace to you and I hope Clinton is our next Pres. (Edwards was my first pick)

Luntz’s remarks about sincerity and the teleprompter are apposite, and I agree with his contention that the analogy Obama establishes between his grandmother and Jeremiah Wright is inapt. This also applies to Obama’s invocation of Geraldine Ferraro, whose statements, however offensive, are innocuous when compared to the vigorous polemics of Jeremiah Wright. And yes, I view Obama’s attempt to render Jeremiah Wright into a synecdoche for the African-American community as a shrewd but diabolically disingenuous rhetorical strategy. Also disturbing is his conflation of the Republican Southern Strategy with the exposure of his relation to Jeremiah Wright.

Well, how shocking. This is the only media analysis of this speech that I totally agree with. Bringing in granny? Equating Ferrarro with Wright? Where does this guy get off?

Nice find!

Thank you for watching the videos before you commented.

Your remarks add a lot to the discussion. And I LOVE your post about Exelon! WTG.

ABC has a new video up tonight. More From Obama’s Pastor: U.S. a Racist Superpower

How many more of these videos will continue to trickle out?

Other sermons reviewed by ABC News, from videotapes sold by the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, reflect Rev. Wright’s repeated attacks on the U.S. government as a “racist and arrogant superpower” that does not value its black citizens.

“The winds of Katrina blew the cover off America. The hurricane exposed the hypocrisy,” Rev. Wright said, “protecting white folks’ property took priority over saving black folks’ lives.” He continued, “This storm called Katrina says far more about a racist government than it does about the wrath of God.”

In April 2003, Rev. Wright told his congregation that “the United States government has failed the vast majority of our citizens of African descent.”

“For every one Oprah, a billionaire, you’ve got five million blacks who are out of work,” he said. “For every one Colin Powell, a millionaire, you’ve got 10 million blacks who cannot read. For every one Condoskeeza [sic] Rice, you’ve got one million in prison. For every one Tiger Woods, who needs to get beat, at the Masters, with his cap-blazing hips, playing on a course that discriminates against women. For every one Tiger Woods, we got 10,000 black kids who will never see a golf course.”

Democrats might feel less discomfort with remarks on Katrina and African American Republicans but this will continue to erode the support of Independents and Republicans that Obama has enjoyed to date. Wright is a lightening rod and Obama doesn’t seem to have the good judgement to not play with lightning.

I got to hear Obama’s entire speech today, and later compared it with the transcript to reinforce my initial reaction, which some of you may find of interest… absolutely unbelievable.

I haven’t seen or read the speech, but I have read several reviews of the speech that make it seem like a lot of the speech or the ideas expressed were lifted from a speech by Bill Clinton in 1995 at the Million Man March. Typical.

Let’s see, people have excused Obama for his deception of Rezko 5 times, his lies over NAFTA 5 times, his condemnation of Wright 3 times thus far, so will today be excused #4 on the lie of never hearing those words by Wright? When is enough enough?

To believe today is allowing Obama clearing of his reasoning for associations with Rezko, Ayers and Wright! Bamboozled and shafted playing the one card that is nasty to attack upon!

jharp: The Rethuglicans, no matter how we usually dislike them, are the only ones making sense right now. We can disagree with them on policy but these guys are smart. They win elections and they know how to smear people and ruin careers. You might think that is horrible but hey, they win and the Democrats need to learn from their mistakes. The Rethuglicans will not let this go so you can blame Larry or Susan but if you look at the big picture this post means squat. FOX News will continue to talk about this and they will talk about this in the general if Obama is the nominee. Get used to it. The Democrats need to start looking at the good and the bad. Let’s start looking at Obama’s negatives because if we continue to ignore them and look at him as a messiah we will lose the general and we will lose big. This is also important for anyone who has yet to vote in the remaining primaries. They need to examine both sides and that means listening to what the Rethuglicans have to say about this. If we had caught Kerry’s negatives sooner and confronted his issues before the Swiftboaters, maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess right now. Listen and learn. The Rethuglicans right now are being straight shooters. They hate Obama and Clinton so their analysis is going to be more neutral than someone like Keith Olbermann who finds nothing wrong with Obama and everything wrong with Clinton.

Oh my god. I cannot believe this, and i thought i’d heard the worst of Wright.

We’ll get the video and put it up. Dear god. I am truly shocked.

Disagree with Luntz or not, what he is really able to do is 1.) know how the average American feels, cares about, and thinks, then 2.) devise effective strategies and attack ads that favor his candidates using this knowledge. He is good at what he does, and you can see how he is going to craft his attack ads* from this interview. And they will not be overtly racist, they will have an air of moderation and just plain ‘ole common sense about them.

* assuming Obama gets the nomination

Perhaps this explains why Oprah no longer attends Trinity.

And they will also excuse the bill he wrote with lobbyists of the nuclear power industry.

Thank you. But try to have a discussion with local residents about Obama’s relation to Exelon. Either they are deaf, or they ignore the incontrovertible evidence.

DisenfranchisedVoter,

Cannot disagree with anything you posted.

You’ve got me in a real quandary.

I’d like promote that we have two good candidates and you make good points that we shouldn’t.

I am astounded that Obama’s pastors sermons are an issue. Our country has lost it’s mind.

I’m sure Adolph Hitler was a courteous individual and a wonderful person to his family and friends too, but that does not change the fact that the man was evil and full of hate. Obama knew that Wright had a reputation for saying hateful things towards whites, Jews and the USA for the last 20 years but chose willingly to associate with him and have the man baptize his children. Actions speak louder than words and flowery speeches to starstruck journalists and his worshipful supporters.

jharp

I can understand your feelings. However, I don’t think Larry and Susan are hurting Obama. Obama hurt himself. Larry and Susan are just reporting it.

And while I detest FOX I believe it is necessary to know what the opposition is saying and thinking so that we can devise a strategy to counter act it. I don’t think we learn the most by simply and only talking with those who we agree with – however much fun that is. After a while the echo chamber becomes boring.

I think we can learn from those that we disagree with.

You know the end of days is near when the most reliable source of unbiased news coverage becomes Fox. But strangely they have consistently been better than many of the other networks at actually reporting news. And that is frightening. Perhaps if the other networks would try a little something that used to be called journalism we wouldn’t have to watch Fox. But sadly, they don’t.

Thank you for these wonderful finds Susan. You do a great service for the cause. Always.

What Wright said is said often when only AAs are present. It is amazing that whites are “shocked, simply shocked” that this sentiment was expressed by Wright. The comments on this site and on Fox reflect the great gulf between the AA community and the rest of the US.

That said, there are several important points:
First, with regard to the question of honesty, unless Obama never in 20 years had a serious political discussion with his pastor it is not possible he didn’t know. I have never known an AA who held those views to keep them a secret. Given that he knew enough to disinvite Wright to his announcement, it seems that he knew about those views. So Luntz is right to raise the issue of honesty.

Second, in regard to the question of association, the issue is more complex. You have to separate his friendship with a father figure from his decision to attend the church with his family. I don’t think anyone on site has completely disassociated themselves from everyone who holds racist, antisemitic, or other biased views. Other wise the use by one blogger on this site of the term “halfbreed” in describing Bush might have raised an eyebrow. It didn’t. So part of the association question is legitimate – why not take your family to a different church?

Third, in regard to the judgment question, I think that one is easy. I think he made a political judgment to attend this church because it would help him politically in the AA community. Which gets us back to my initial statement.

Amazing that this guy wasn’t “retired” years ago.

jharp:

Are you astounded that the sermons of Jeremiah Wright are an issue or of the contents of sermons themselves?

Susan I watched “Profannity and Bones” tonight and BO speech today,, (after spending time down in the basement)…I imagine if you ask Mr Johnson if he ever had to listen hours of objectionable shit just to get 30 seconds of intel he might tell you it was worth it.

what is interesting is how people are selective in what they watch just to avoid audio conflicts….

What I took away from Obama is he was throwing himself on the “mercy of the court” but at the same time not missing a beat to stick it to anybody but himself and his choices and actions. Hillary , Ferraro his own mother? All three of these white women were denagrated by him to day…What is with “sincerely” presented crap?

Anyway in case I missed you staing how Bear was, I hope he is ok.

Other than the comment about Tiger “who needs to get beat” I happen to agree with the pastor.

Though I agree it’s an albatross in the election. So what’s a man to do?

It’s so ironic to hear accurate criticism from Fox, a place I’ve avoided during the Bush administration. But I’m relieved to hear it. Thanks for posting it.

it’s interesting how all reporters and bloggers who do criticize Obama receive just hate mail, as Hannity says at the end of the second video, the worst of his twelve year career. I’ve heard and read that everywhere. The Kool Aid drinkers are a nasty lot. But look who they have as a role model, eh?

What we’re revealing is nothing compared to what the GOP would do to him if he is the nominee.

The ABC News story tonight is an example — more and more and more will keep coming out — and that is not the product of anything we are doing, except to point it out.

Let us hope that people come to their senses, and that Hillary Clinton is our nominee.

To people who point out that someone must be wonderful because they love dogs and cats, I always point out that Hitler was a great lover of dogs.

Yea, this is a serious problem for Obama and the Democratic party. If Dean’s scream can ruin his chances at the nomination or Kerry, a vietnam veteran, portrayed as a traitor then you can be sure that this will ruin Obama. The Repubs don’t even need to do work on this. They just need to buy air time and show Rev. Wright saying we deserved 9/11 in every city in the U.S. The Democrats will never recover.
I’m irrational right now. I personally do not like Obama and I blame him for the mess we’re in right now. I think he needs to agree to seat MI and FL and think about being Clinton’s VP. I know that won’t happen though. The perfect situation would’ve been for Clinton to be the nominee and Obama to run in 8 years. Alas, the Democrats always find a way of screwing ourselves over.
But this is a real issue and in a way I think the media should’ve let voters know early on but they did when it might be too late for Clinton to catch up in the delegate count. We might actually have a nominee that will have no chance of winning the general. 1 in 4 voters in Florida have said that they won’t support the Dem nominee if their votes aren’t counted. Clinton supporters are reasonably angered both at Obama for his race baiting and at the DNC and Dean for punishing MI and FL thereby disenfranchising voters and denying Clinton much needed delegates she deserves. This is a mess and I don’t think we can blame the Repubs. This is our own mess and if we lose in the general it will be the fault of the DNC and our leaders.

I guess both.

I firmly believe religion is a very private matter between a man and his God or his church or whatever or whomever he worships.

Thank you for asking … it was so bad yesterday, waiting to hear from the vet. Bear is home. He hasn’t lost weight and didn’t have a fever. But he is a pretty sick little fellow.

The veterinarian anesthetized him, cleaned out the big wound, and then sutured it. She also gave him antibiotics and fluids.

He also has a bad cold. He is just lying down all the time. He doesn’t feel good, but it’s so good we got him into that vet, who looked utterly exhausted when we arrived at 5:30 to pick him up…. she was booked solid but squeezed him in. Thank goodness. The wound was infected.

The main stream media (papers and TV) has been so intoxicated with Obama that
they have sucked all the oxygen for criticism… We know what Fox, TNR, National Review are capable of. But given the circus out there this days I welcome any discussion that is not blindly and nauseatingly in irrational love with Obama.

I heard the audio of the pieces above (avoid looking at their faces to focus in whta they were saying) and I have to say what Luntz exactly right. Excellent analysis.

Hannity should have asked a different question (he tried whether Obama was just as racist and bigot as Obama–which we can debate but he’ll get nowhere with that) What he should have asked is:

Would Jeremiah Wright be a guest in an Obama’s White House?

From Obama’s speech today, the answers seems to be : “yes he would indeed”.

And that, is a huge huge problem for Obama.

I came to a horrific realization today. I’m watching Fox news!

Something really wrong is going on in America.

Anybody call Kucinich on UFO sightings? I’m beginning to think we have had some morphed version of body snatchers. Only they have screwed up our brains and they put them back in the wrong places.

I figure the truth has no boundaries and it can be found anywhere. Even at Fox once in a while.

Beware not to get a false sense of security with Fox. I believe the ratio is for every one truth they tell, four lies scroll by.

I meant :

“… and I have to say that Luntz was exactly right. Excellent analysis. ”

(I should go to sleep)

You have the wrong target. I suggest that outrage be directed at a candidate on our side who presented this kind of material to the other side on a silver platter. BO knew exactly f-ing well this was an issue, and did not put it to bed 12 months ago when it was appropriate.

The FIRST rule of campaigning is to come clean with dirty laundry at the very beginning. Of course this runs the risk of losing the primary before it starts, but covering up something like this can damage far more than a campaign.

Imagine how screwed we would feel if we had first found out about this *after* Obama became the nominee.

I actually applaud Luntz for pointing the Obama’s travesty and cheap political shot of equating Ferraro with Wright. That was really low from Obama’s part.

I can only pray you are right Susan.

Also, what these self-righteous types never seem to get is that Obama and his campaign have been tearing Clinton down from the start. So why is he not just as responsible for doing the same? Hmmmm? Why isn’t Mr. Obama getting out of the race knowing that he doesn’t stand a chance in the general? Hmmmmmmm?

That’s why I own a stainless steel kettle. Rather than argue its color, it simply reflects back my own face. It is a great shutter upper.

It is funny seeing how Obama today decided to throw Republicans under the bus and blame them for the state of race relations in America.

“So now Reagan’s Coalition is something bad to Barack? After dog whistling to Republicans by calling Reagan a “transformative” figure and calling the Republican Party “the party of ideas” now he wants to discuss how that transformation and those ideas were poisonous to America? Give me a break.”

http://stuffobamalikes.blogspot.com/2008/03/being-victim.html

Also

Many thanks for this post Susan! I really appreciate it. For one I don’t have cable
(a blessing overall these days I think) but also for reminding us of Powell’s comments of that infamous convention: that was priceless !!.

Sorry the comment submitted before I was done. Susan have you heard of Dorothy Tillman? Barack endorsed her in Chicago. Just wait until Sean Hannity gets a wind of this woman and how racially divisive she is and how Barack associated and endorsed with her.

“Long known for battling racism, 3rd Ward Alderman Dorothy Tillman draws criticism in the wake of a discrimination lawsuit. Two white waiters, Ahmet Gundogdu and Michael Otte, allege the Palmer House Hilton removed them from working Tillman’s banquet last October after her staff asked for black waiters. According to the suit, the 11-year veteran waiters were told to work at another event or leave for the day. They seek $100,000 in damages. Tillman, who is not a defendant, tells the Sun-Times: “It is not personal against anybody. I am just pro-my people.”

How the mighty have fallen. Once a powerful Alderman in Chicago and endorsed by Barack Obama (she lost anyway) the gun carrying, flamboyant hat- wearing, racist Dorothy Tillman landed in jail recently.”

http://stuffobamalikes.blogspot.com/2008/03/dorothy-tillman.html

I just watched the Newt Gingrich interview. He does make good points. They are already talking about what McCain should do to let the remaining 34% of Americans who know nothing about Rev. Wright learn more about him and Obama’s 20 year relationships to this man. Trust that the McCain campaign is on this and are thinking of ways right now on how they will use this against Obama in a general eleciton.

Flea – see my post on this very thing.

I keep expecting the real Chicken Little to appear down the street yelling “The Democrats are falling!”

???
America failed AA’s ? America is not a hand out, is there human violence in the form of ethnic nationalism,sexism and bigotry Ubet.

Talking about this today in an almost dazed way … I just can’t get over the MSM’s plavlovic response to Obama’s speech, again.

With regard to Obama, the MSM is acting exactly the way it did with Bush.

We saw mumbling they said he was historic… etc.

Why is the MSM falling all over themselves with Obama.

More importantly, anyone catch Joe Scarborough on last week’s Maher show? They were talking about the change in the media towards Obama. Joe said someting about how careful they have to be about what they do say. How they are being talked to routinely about what they have to stay away from.

So MSM pushed for Bush in ’04. Now they seem to be hell bent on pushing Obama. Why?

1. They want McCain to be POTUS and know Obama will lose to him.

2. They want Obama to win.

There is no doubt left in my mind anymore that this is an orchestrated event. Just as I have no doubt that the market crush is also an orchestrated event (to the benefit of the kabillionaires who made record profits last year).

Which leaves us with the bigger question. Why is Big Media afraid of Hillary Clinton?

BTW, there are a few good articles critical of Obama’s speech and in general his approach to race; I read a few in RCP just a while ago:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/new_wright.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120579535818243439.htmlmod=opinion_main_commentaries (a must read)

Two from Politico
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9104.html

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9111.html

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/horseraceblog/2008/03/on_obamas_speech.html (this one is long and quite benevolent except its ending–get to the last bit)

It was like watching a bad stand up comic, with that rethug line…democrat by day; rethug by night

I’m going to bed but am disturbed by this thread and the entire Obama and his pastor/pastors sermons being such a hot issue. Not just here but in the media as a whole.

I just cannot imagine a Catholic being attacked for attending mass and giving financial support to an organization that covers for pedophile priests.

Senator Obama’s pastor doesn’t have a god dam thing to do with his qualifications to become president.

We are all playing right into the republicans hand by agreeing it is an issue.

Andy your must reaad is not available…

THE fact is Obama allowed his daughters to listen to Pastor Wright hateful racism speeches. Today Obama threw his Grandmother under the Bus to save his political LIFE.
THE MEDIA APLAUDS! MLK BACK TO LIVE. CRISSIS TURNS TO OPERTUNITY. A SPEECH FROM THE HEART (TELEPROMPTER)
EVERYONE In THE MEDIA FAILS TO RECOGNIZE THAT WHEN One BACK IS UP AGAINST THE WALL; ONE HAS TO ACT Or GO UP IN FLAMES.
A SPEECH OF OPORTUNITY, A HISTORIC ONE…JUST LIKE MLK…ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
THE SPEECH WAS AN ATEMPED FOR SURVIVAL NOTHING MORE.
WHEN UP AGAINST THE WALL BRINGING UP A FAMMILY MEMBER USUALY IS THE MOST CONVINIENT WAY OUT.IT’S PERSONAL, IT’S DISHING, AND THERE IS A ELEMENT OF GENARALIZATION, THE VERY THING HE ACUSED HIS GRANDMOTHER OF DOING.
IT WAS MEANT TO MAKE US MAYBE RECOGNIZE OUR SELFS AND FEEL GUILTY.
HOWEVER I RELLY DON’T. HOW CAN I?
IN A TIME OF OPRAH, TIGER WOODS, KANIE, WILL SMITH, P DIDDY, SNOOP, WOOPY EVEN BARACK HIMSELF IT WASN’T ME SITTING THERE FOR 20 YEARS LISTENING TO HATFULL PRICHING.I CAN’T IMAGINE WAISTING MY TIME like that.
AND THE QUESTION NOW, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? AFTER THE SPEECH…ARE THE BLACK CHURCHES GOING TO CHANGE THERE WAY OF PRITCHING, OR ARE WE SUPOSE TO BACK OUT AND LET THE THINGS BE THE WAY THERE ARE, CONVINIENT FOR HIM, BECAUSE WE ARE SUPOSE TO FEEL GUILTY OF THE DESPICABLE SIN OF ASKING QUESTIONS?

Did he throw grandma under the bus though?

Both are disturbing but not to be a co-opt out of the issue at hand…

Senator Obama’s pastor doesn’t’t have a god dam thing to do with his qualifications to become president.

So Obama’s and Pastor Wright’s dealings with the Woodland folks is immaterial to BO being in the WH?

I am sorry that you fail to see how anti-semitic, racist and filled with bigotry Jeremiah Wright is. He is definitely not the usual pastor, priest or rabbi. Obama’s intimate relationship of 20 years with this man is
very troubling. This has nothing to do with Rep. (it is infantile to think they don’t know all of this and won’t use it in full force in Nov.)

Hillary Clinton should be the nominee on so many multi-levels but if nothing else convinces you, Wright should.

It most certainly does have to do with his qualifications. He doesn’t have the experience and has been running on his judgment, which apparently he has none of.

I just can’t seem to forget poor Granny. I know I’m redundant but according to my value system isn’t it a bit disloyal to bring up your Granny’s racists comments on national television? What the hell is wrong with this guy? It doesn’t matter that he had to make some kind of comparison for his racists arguments, why couldn’t he bring up another example other than Granny? If I were Granny I’d throttle the little traitor. Sorry folks but I guess this hit my button.

Now everyone thinks Granny is a racist! Nice guy huh? If that isn’t shitting on your blood I don’t know what else it could be. All just to defend Reverend Wrong.

It’s called “The Obama Bargain” it was an op-ed in WSJ. It’s in RCP at the bottom but here is the link again

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120579535818243439.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

if not go to RCP http://www.realclearpolitics.com/

and scroll down to “The Morning Edition”

yeah that was odd. his grandma? Jarring. A trinity of racist white women?

My hands are getting tired! Is the noise over yet?

jharp

Normally I would agree with you. However, one thing I’ve noticed about this site which is different than most sites that I’ve frequented: this place allows honest, uncensored comments. It is important to hear from all sides don’t you think?

We can’t be too monolithic.

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/Articles/bobamasunlikelypoliticaledu.html

[I]n Chicago’s South Side, his teachers were schooled in a style of organizing devised by Saul Alinsky, the radical University of Chicagotrained social scientist. At the heart of the Alinsky method is the concept of “agitation”–making someone angry enough about the rotten state of his life that he agrees to take action to change it; or, as Alinsky himself described the job, to “rub raw the sores of discontent.”
….
[Obama] was a natural, the undisputed master of agitation [....]
….
[Obama] longed for an experience that connected him to the civil rights era. “In the sit-ins, the marches, the jailhouse songs,” he wrote in Dreams, “I saw the African-American community becoming more than just the place where you’d been born or the house where you’d been raised. Through organizing, through shared sacrifice, membership had been earned.” Obama wanted to join the club.

Yep, the Democrats are gonna lose another election:
http://anglachelg.blogspot.com/2008/03/fun-with-electoral-college.html

Couldn’t sleep and don’t want to be misunderstood as I am a Clinton fan.

1) I am pissed it is even an issue though I agree it is what it is and doesn’t matter what I think. He needs 270 electoral votes and nothing else matters.

2) I am upset because I think we shouldn’t be bashing either democrat. It is sooo republican and we have two good candidates of which either could win.

3) The election win be won or lost in Florida and Ohio and I agree Clinton is stronger in both states.

It is just I think Obama can win as well and hate to see anything that takes him down.

Once again regarding Ferraro’s remarks…this is just another instance of restricted vocabulary. Only blacks can use the “N” word. And, apparently, Obama is the only one who can acknowledge that his race has gotten him where he is today…

“Obama acknowledges, with no small irony, that he benefits from his race. If he were white, he once bluntly noted, he would simply be one of nine freshmen senators, almost certainly without a multimillion-dollar book deal and a shred of celebrity. Or would he have been elected at all?”
http://obama.senate.gov/news/050626-when_it_comes_to_race_obama_ma/

This is one his senate website for Heaven’s sake…that is if he hasn’t pulled the page. A lot of that’s been happening lately.

Obama is not ready for prime time. He should have distanced himself from Wright as soon as he began running for office with a mixed constituency — US Senate. He knew there was a problem with Wright, but didn’t even check the tapes. He should have asked the church not to sell them till after November — on their website to Fox and ABC yet! He hadn’t even prepared a response if they did come out: he lied and stammered and made a mystery out of his attendence which fed the story.

This is not the way to react at 3 a.m. This fellow has not been vetted; his own staff are incompetent.

These tapes speak for themselves, even if the GOP stops pushing them. LInks, email….

In all fairness, the treatment of Palestinians is abysmal. Although it is a political football to western leaders. No politician can minimize that fact. Hearing Powell speak otherwise is reason enough to bring skepticism to his viewpoint.

Is this a parody troll?

Then agree Barack had business making this guy part of his campaign effort?

Barack Obama Triangulator.

If Obama didn’t see any problem with him, only the shortcomings others had in not agreeing with his preacher, why did try to keep the man as part of his effort and distance self from him at the same time?

Terrible comparison to make though. No equivocation there.

People ask well how could he have been there for 20 years and not walk away.
Simple really. He is a biracial man who wanted to get ahead in Chicago politics. He needed the votes of those in those churches. Doesn’t mean he had to agree with it. But it does mean, if he didnt go there, they would never have voted him in and we would never have the Obama we have today.

So the war criminal Colin Powell continues his fine international performance with more lies and deceptions, and in No Quarter’s obsession with taking down the “Chosen One” with anything that comes up, it’s just fine and impressive truth that deserves to get top billing with Fox News, “no matter what my views are”.
But Susan, Zionism IS the embodiment of racism and exclusivism by definition, and now that South Africa no longer practices apartheid as state policy it leaves Israel as the only practitioner of this foul concept. And Israel fully deserves to be singled out as the single most extreme practitioner of ethnic cleansing and out and out aggression on its neighbors! How can any self-respecting progressive with a modicum of information on the past seventy years of middle eastern history, claim otherwise.
It’s rather ironic that No Quarter – which has generally defended a change in US bias outlandishly favoring Israel with a more “balanced” foreign policy in the region, and excoriated the war criminal Colin Powell for his 2/5/03 “pack of lies” UN performance – should jettison its past policy preferences in favor of an embrace of apartheid Israel and an acceptance of a world criminal’s pronouncements all because it adds fuel to NQ’s shrill obsession with bringing down the “Chosen One”!!
Obama has enough stench around him to do and say what needs to be done to get rid of his candidacy without all of a sudden bringing in Fox, Hannity, Newt, and Powell. When Karl Rove finally lets fly one of his missiles into Obama, will you all of a sudden find him quotable as a senior statesman of worth and pertinence, “no matter what my views of him are”??
In a year or two, I fear NQ will recoil in embarrassment at what it became in this electoral year.
Larry, don’t you think that the missile strike in Waziristan last Sunday (and the others that preceded it these past few months) deserves a column and analysis from you and your brethren in and out of Spookville? I for one would like to read about that here, far more than the latest guttersnipe pandering to people who wouldn’t have gotten the time of day here a mere six months ago!

So what is to be done? Ignore this and pretend that the Republicans will just let it die away? Nominate him and then let the Republicans tear into him? This issue may not be important to you but it is important to millions of others.

Racism and bigotry are ugly things no matter who the miscreant is.

What I loathe most about all this is that to get sensible analysis of Barack Obama I have to turn to America Right radio on XM, or Fox. Yesterday I lasted about five minutes into the Randi Rhodes show- her sustained orgasm over Obama’s speech- before I had to turn it off and listen to Sean Hannity instead. Sean Hannity is one of the reasons I got XM in the first place, because I couldn’t stand local right-wing radio anymore, but here I was, forced to turn to him to hear sensible calling out of Barack’s Bullshit.

A few hours later, Randi Rhodes Take II, otherwise known as the Rachel Maddow show, came on- and I flipped over to MICHAEL LEVINE instead. Levine is a raving lunatic and crackpot- but when it came to analysing Obama’s speech, he was right on. So was Rusty Humphries later on.

Congratulations, MSM and Air (Obama’s) America radio- you’ve pushed me over to the dark side to get my info. No more MSNBC, which might as well be a nonstop infomercial for Obama (except Dan Abrams’s show, which I suspect will give way to Rachel Maddow at some point.) No more Air America. No more nonstop “Oh god Barack is Awesome, WE are the racists!” echo chamber crap from these idiots.

Obama was more than willing to sideline Jeremiah Wright, an advisor, friend & pastor for 20 years, when he announced his presidential campaign, because he said he didn’t want him to be a distraction.

Yet, months later, Obama was more than happy to have anti-gay bigot Reverend Donnie McClurkin headline his campaign’s “Embrace the Change” Gospel concert series in South Carolina.

First, what is it about bigot preachers does Obama find so appealing?

And second, should I read anything into the fact that he finds anti-white, anti-America diatribes a potential distraction, but anti-gay diatribes perfectly OK?

“I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community,” Obama said of Wright. “I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

Admirers found in these words the personal connection that Obama was attempting to make with the prejudice that people confront within their own families in both the black and white communities. Critics found in these words a candidate willing to sacrifice his own grandmother’s good name for the good of a political campaign.

http://tinyurl.com/2asge9

I don’t agree with Wright at all but I’d like to point out that
the bit about the Masters discriminating against women is
the first positive thing I’ve heard from him. It is possible that beyond the soundbites we’ve heard they may be more to this guy if we heard a sermon in it’s entirety. Not that I could ever justify what he said about this country and the Clintons.

Barack Obama did nothing to challenge the hatred spewing forth in his church and being embraced by its members, and he is the change we’ve been waiting for. He’s the one that’s going to lead us to a post-racial society. Give me a break!! If you can’t clean up your own house (of worship), how you gonna clean up the White House (after Bush)?

If granny were preaching outright hate to hundreds of people – I might not disown her, but I would do my best to get her away from the microphone.

As recently as last week, BO said that he still considers Tony Rezko to be a friend: How lame is it going to sound when he has to give that speech:
Did I know he was a slumlord – yes
Did I know he was a criminal – yes

But I could no more disown him than I…OK,never mind, I disown him.

I have a problem with comparing his grandmother to Rev. Wright. He stated that she helped raise him, that she sacrified for him. And, recall, she’s family.

He chose to attend Wright’s church as an “adult”. Wright may have provided spiritual guidance, of a sort. Perhaps Obama was like many who seek a religious guidepost after they have been raised. But, the point is that he made a conscious choice to be associated with this man and his church. Wright did not make “sacrifes” to raise Obama. There is no genetic family tie. Like career moves and friends (i.e., Tony Rezko), this association was a choice made by Obama.

With choice(s) like that, can one really stand in front of everyone and continue to shout that they have superior judgement?

How are Geraldine Ferraro’s statements in any way offensive when Barack Obama said the same things about himself ? See link below:

http://www.stltoday.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=5460047

From the SF Chron:
Still, Shelby Steele, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University – and author of “A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can’t Win” – wrote this week that the controversies surrounding Obama’s relationship with Wright underscore his biggest weaknesses.

“What could he have been thinking? Of course, he wasn’t thinking,” Steele wrote in a piece in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

“But now the floodlight of a presidential campaign has been 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,” Steele wrote. “Yet Jeremiah Wright, splashed across America’s television screens, has shown us that there is no real difference between rhetorical hatred and real hatred.”

That’s why I own a stainless steel kettle. Rather than argue its color, it simply reflects back my own face. It is a great shutter upper.

Guess that’s why I own a cast iron skillet… to reflect my sinful old heart.

Rev. Wright was not confining his remarks to the failures of the Bush Administration. Now, Kanye West “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people” was spot-on, but this Rev. Wright condemnation of America; in particular, white Americans, was vile racist bullshit.

Guess what? If his granny was like mine, she was afraid of a lot of WHITE men on the street, too.

And the things she used to say about Aggies!!!

Enough With The Race Baiting Already,It’s Obama’s Hole Card,To Explain Away His Misgiving’s Which Up To This Point Disgust Me.

It Really Frighten’s Me That People In Our Elective Offices Are Supporting Obama With No Prejudice At All,It Seem’s No Matter What F..K Up He Endures It’s Like He Get’s More Support Than What He Previouly Had.

And I Would Like To Know Why, When The Problem’s This Country Face Are Way Bigger Than Mr Obama And His Pride,& Arrogance.I Know He Is Self Centered
But I Can’t Understand For The Life Of Me People That We Elect To Represent Us Are So Naive About What’s At Stake Here.

It’s Obvious That He’s One Of The Biggest LIARS
Since Richard Nixon,And He Is Constantly Defending His Lies At The American People Expense,& These So-Called Representative’s Play’s Right Along With Him,& His BS,It’s Pathetic.

Our None Getting Anything Done Mrs Pelosi Should Keep Her Opinion’s To Herself,She Has Alway’s Supported Obama She Were Just Holding Out To See How This Primary Were Going To Turn Out.Now She Has The Upper Hand She Step’s Out Into The Public Forum,In Support Of This Moron.

She And A Few Other’s In That Pelosi Group Don’t Care For Senator Clinton Because They Know She Won’t Kiss Their Assess,And That To Mrs Pelosi Defy’s Her Authority.

She Can’t Stand To Think That Another Intelligent Woman Will Not Be At Her Disposal,Sholud She Become The 44th President Of These United States,Except For The One’s That I Think Mrs Pelosi,And That Idiot Howard Dean Conspired To Strip These Two States,Florida,& Michigan,Because They Knew Hilliary Had These Two States Won Lock,Stock,& Barrel.

It Closing It’s Clear That Mr Obama Only
Has This To Offer To The American Public…….If You Elect Me As Your Next President Regardless Of What Your Lieing Eye’s And Ear’s Tell,s You,I Promise You Thisss,Dat,& The Utta Ting.

And all of this with about an hour of free live television exposure on all major cable outlets and endless replays on network TV for what was essentially, a political speech. While CNN gave Hillary a few minutes of live TV yesterday, they cut her off after she refused to get dragged into the conflict that the CNN was trying to roil (when asked if Obama’s speech was sufficient to diffuse the issue, she deflected the question, and said that the question should be directed to Obama). In the meantime, all of the networks ignored Hillary’s major opus on her plans to end the war in Iraq. The mainstram media is trying a new tactic. They are tired of being accused of being unfair and buased against Hillary and in favor of Obama, so they have determined that if they can’t say something really nasty or snarky against Hillary, then they will ignore her like they did to John Edwards. In the meantime, Obama is trolling for more network freebies, and announced that he has plans for two more major speeches in the near future.

Too many Democrats think “religion” is something nice you do on Sunday mornings (when real Democrats watch the Sunday Morning Talk Shows). Too many Democrats think “religion” (I’m talking to you, Howard Dean) is kind of like the Kiwanis Club, or the Rotary, or maybe even as deep as the Masonic Lodge… a harmless bit of “fluff”, a hobby. They just don’t get it (for a bit of fun, find the Mother Jones News expose of Hillary’s religious beliefs… they were kinda shocked “Oh my gosh! She BELIEVES this stuff!”).

“Religious” people feel differently. Their “religion” informs them of who they are. It IS their moral compass. The majority of Americans are “religious”, and they will see these videos, and hear Obama’s high words, and see the huge disconnect between the two. What Barack Obama’s pastor preached, taught, and believed are seen as central to what Barack Obama himself believes.

Obamaites can throw out words like “Jesus” and “Christian” and “baptize” related to Trinity UCC, but the majority of American Christians will also see a huge disconnect between their own traditional (but watered-down) Christianity, and the “Black Jesus Liberation Christianity” religion of Cone, Wright, and Obama. Liberal Democrats (as a whole) don’t understand that the kind of “Christian religion” they may personally find palatable represents the most dramatically shrinking branch of that “religion”.

They win elections and they know how to smear people and ruin careers

NO, you miss the big picture.

The republicans smear, gain an office, then lose.

They are incapable of creating effective policy, and governing.

Larry’s pig post the other day laid out exactly how stinking inept the republicans are, essentially losing in seven years the greater asymmetric war.
They are not smart, this meme has to stop.

Without a compliant press, the republican MO fails, miserably,

Bullying is not an example of superior reasoning.

Think.

I completely support Larry, SusanUnPC, and this site. I was originally a John Edwards supporter; now I support Clinton. I’m question the use of Luntz and Hannity videos from Fox News to make arguments about Barack Obama; however, it is instructive to see what the Republican’s will make of this for the general election, and you can get a sense of that from watching them. ‘Nuff said on that one.

My problem is this: While I reject the extremism that is clear in Rev. Wright’s sermons, I also know that for years, I too have questioned American foreign policy. I believe that American foreign policy IS racist. American domestic policy is racist as well. And, black churches are often the heart of the black community, and speak to the oppression and rejection that members of that community have suffered for centuries in this country, and still largely do today.

The fact is, blacks are in prison today in record numbers, horrifying numbers. Their sentences–crack cocaine v. powder cocaine being the most recent example covered in the msm–are calculated to service, expand and profit a private prison industry, politicians who run on “the rule of law,” and a media (Ever watch MSNBC Doc Bloc, which is run every night? Ever watch Dateline?) complicit in a system of “justice” which works for rich white people, but works against poor black people. Corrections Corporation of America is a Dow Stock. It is a corporation, no different than Oil and Gas, GE, or Exelon.

Read: The Perpetual Prisoner Machine: How America Profits from Crime, by Joel Dyer

Read: Lockdown America: Police and Prisons in the Age of Crisis, by Christian Parenti

America’s racist foreign policy is well-documented:

Read: Stephen Kinzer is a former New York Times correspondent and the author of Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change From Hawaii to Iraq

Listen, I recoil from Rev. Wright’s hate-filled sermons; I reject Obama’s lies that he didn’t know about the Black Liberation Theology being espoused in his church. It is clear Obama lied about it; and he even admitted it in his speech. I’m dismayed that he would have supported such language.

But, tossing the baby out with the bath water is certainly not a good way to make the argument, in my view. As a progressive, a military veteran from a family of military veterans, I am also a critical thinker and a contrarian. I won’t follow ANY arguments that are made with hypocrisy, be they for Clinton or for Obama. And, the simple fact is that Rev. Wright is completely accurate when he criticizes American domestic and foreign policy. We are torturing people; renditioning them to foreign gulags and refusing to give people trials for the past 5 years. That isn’t just a Republican policy; it’s also a Democratic policy if Democrats collude in it.

We should separate out the arguments about this. The real argument here is Barack Obama’s judgment; but the debate has now gotten off track, and in order to criticize Obama, people are now apparently accepting domestic and foreign policies that are fully worthy of criticism from Rev. Wright or anyone else thinking clearly.

Did he throw grandma under the bus though?

Only the Jews, some Catholics, gypsies and homosexuals.

Did someone mention how awful Obama looked? I recall reading in one of Dowd’s op-eds that Obama had lost 5lbs since “quitting” smoking. I believe he looks like he has lost a lot more then 5lbs. If this Rev WRight issue is causing him to lose weight, what is he going to do in the general and if he becomes president. I do not think it gets any easier.

BTW, he is crossing into the frail looking category which does not bold well for the leader of the free world.

Long known for battling racism, 3rd Ward Alderman Dorothy Tillman draws criticism in the wake of a discrimination lawsuit. Two white waiters, Ahmet Gundogdu and Michael Otte, allege the Palmer House Hilton removed them from working Tillman’s banquet last October after her staff asked for black waiters. According to the suit, the

This is the information Dean and Pelosi selectively choose to ignore, explaining why democrats lose elections.

That elite no mind democrat can’t seem to get his head around anything else but himself, the republicans see Obama’s HUGE liabilities(corruption, terrorism), and exploit.

Obama is radioactive trash.

So what is to be done? Ignore this and pretend that the Republicans will just let it die away? Nominate him and then let the Republicans tear into him

Oh, you found the Dean Pelosi strategy for Obama, KM…

It is just I think Obama can win as well and hate to see anything that takes him down.

He’s a criminal, he should be in jail.

Given his past record, and associations, you wouldn’t want this guy near your family.

America is less safe with Obama, and it is,

In all fairness, the treatment of Palestinians is abysmal. Although it is a political football to western leaders. No politician can minimize that fact. Hearing Powell speak otherwise is reason enough to bring skepticism to his viewpoint

Agreed.

Doesn’t mean he had to agree with it

No mater how you try to justify it, it’s shit.

Obama stands by a man bashing white people.

You have to be on Pluto if you rationalize it as simple ambition.

Man… I never thought I’d see Dems getting in bed with Fox News. Even Hillary said she was glad Obama gave that speech. You people should get real but you are just like the republiKlan right wing. Obama could have licked your boots and you would still bitch.

Get a grip.

BTW, he is crossing into the frail looking category which does not bold well for the leader of the free world.

The rezko situation is very very real, very very criminal.

I’m thinking he’s deeply connected to that filth, and again, I wonder HOW Obama was really brought to Tony’s attention.

The truth of that matter could be explosive.

And of course, Obama knows the truth, the truth of his, and Michelle’s, criminality.

A year ago he’s thinking of the Presidency, I would imagine at this point he thinking of prison.

Bush speech to mark 5 years of Iraq war
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080319/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_iraq

WASHINGTON – Five years after launching the U.S. invasion of Iraq, President Bush is making some of his most expansive claims of success in the fighting there. Bush said last year’s troop buildup has turned Iraq around and produced “the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin Laden.”

He puts more inaccuracies in one statement than he ever has prior.

Massive anti-war demonstrations were planned in downtown Washington to mark Wednesday’s anniversary of the war, which has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 U.S. troops. Across the river at the Pentagon, Bush was to give a speech to warn that backsliding in recent progress fueled by the increase of 30,000 troops he ordered more than a year ago cannot be allowed.

Weather will limit many protests at this time.

“The challenge in the period ahead is to consolidate the gains we have made and seal the extremists’ defeat,” he said in excerpts the White House released Tuesday night. “We have learned through hard experience what happens when we pull our forces back too fast — the terrorists and extremists step in, fill the vacuum, establish safe havens and use them to spread chaos and carnage.”

Permanent bases?

Bush added: “The successes we are seeing in Iraq are undeniable, yet some in Washington still call for retreat.”

Calling Bush Gomer would be an insult to people who aren’t Marines, but play one on TV.

Democrats took a different view. …
said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich. “The tasks that remain in Iraq — to bring an end to sectarian conflict, to devise a way to share political power and to create a functioning government that is capable of providing for the needs of the Iraqi people — are tasks that only the Iraqis can complete.”

This guy up sounds like he’s not up for election, I could be mistaken about that, but not nearly mistaken as is he.

The president’s address sought to shift the nation’s focus from economic ills to the security gains in Iraq, part of a series of events the White House planned around the anniversary and an upcoming report from the top U.S. figures in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

Turd, with a cherry on top. Let’s ignore problems, with more problems.

Vice President Dick Cheney just completed a two-day visit to view Iraq developments in person. Expected GOP presidential nominee John McCain also went to Iraq this week.

Cheney, asked during an ABC interview about strong opposition in the United States to the continuing war, said he wasn’t worried about that.

“I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls,” he said in a segment of the interview broadcast Wednesday on “Good Morning America.”

Amazingly, McCain didn’t want to get pictured with Cheney at his(their) war?

Here’s where they try and go full monte on folks:

Cheney added: “Think about what would have happened if Abraham Lincoln had paid attention to polls, if they had had polls during the Civil War. He never would have succeeded if he hadn’t had a clear objective, a vision for where he wanted to go, and he was willing to withstand the slings and arrows of the political wars in order to get there.”

They had polls during the Civil War. They were called elections. Diebold had no place in them.

Since we don’t have a clear objective, no vision for how to get there, and the war has been used as a campaign item(Karl “Run on the War” Rove) how does any of that compare to Lincoln?

Oh, Cheney was channeling the Habeas argument.

Before top Pentagon officials and hundreds of others, Bush planned to trace the war’s “high cost in lives and treasure” and thank those who have fought in, planned and assisted the U.S. military effort. In the excerpts, he defended the war as necessary at first, now, and for an undefined future until Iraq is stable enough to stand on its own.

He plans to trace? With tracing paper and the crayolas they write his briefing points in?

The “undefined future,” that’s the part Cheney puts under “vision for where he wanted to go” isn’t it?

“The surge has done more than turn the situation in Iraq around — it has opened the door to a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror,” the president said.

Can the spooks who read here on a regular basis please have the NIE results presented in light of Bush’s horse shit claim? The emporer wears no brains.

“For the terrorists, Iraq was supposed to be the place where al-Qaida rallied Arab masses to drive America out. Instead, Iraq has become the place where Arabs joined with Americans to drive al-Qaida out. In Iraq, we are witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin Laden, his grim ideology, and his terror network. And the significance of this development cannot be overstated.”

Bush appeared to be referring to recent cooperation by local Iraqis with the U.S. military against the group known as al-Qaida in Iraq, a mostly homegrown, Sunni-based insurgency. Experts question how closely — or even whether — the group is connected to the international al-Qaida network. As for bin Laden, he is rarely heard from and is believed to be hiding in Pakistan.

Iraq no longer dominates the public debate and tops voters’ concerns. With the economy taking a tumble, things improving by some measures in Iraq and much attention riveted on the 2008 presidential race, Iraq has faded from the front burner.

Bush has successfully defied efforts by the Democratic-led Congress to force troop withdrawals or set deadlines for pullouts. The U.S. has about 158,000 troops in Iraq. That number is expected to drop to 140,000 by summer in drawdowns meant to erase all but about 8,000 troops from last year’s increase.

It is widely believed that Bush will in April endorse a recommendation from Petraeus for no additional troop reductions, beyond those already scheduled, until at least September. This so-called pause in drawdowns would be designed to assess the impact of this round of withdrawals before allowing more that could jeopardize the gains.

The surge was meant to tamp down sectarian violence in Iraq so that the country’s leaders would have space to advance legislation considered key to reconciliation between rival Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities. The idea is that such political progress would weaken or even end the still-potent insurgency.

But the gains on the battlefield have not been matched by political progress, and violence may be increasing again. The Iraqis do not yet have a law for sharing the nation’s oil wealth. Also unfinished is a plan for new provincial elections.

As of Monday, at least 3,990 members of the U.S. military have died in Iraq. More than 29,000 U.S. service members have been injured in the war, which has cost the U.S. roughly $500 billion.

Who here is willing to contend that we’ve lost beyond 4,000 in Iraq? The numbers are being ignored right now to keep the landmark from weighing in on Bush’s tea party press release. Someone get Gates’ ass before Committee this week.

The story even goes on to repudiate the claims of progress Bush says have been made. Could someone please point this fact out to him?

Oh, another item, the violence in Afghanistan against American troops is increasing, is it not? We’ve also widened that war to neighboring areas as well. Perhaps a certain Presidential candidate who is tasked with European Affairs as chair of a Senate subcommittee could hold hearings on that. Heaven forbid he point out failures there, it might reflect poorly on Condi. Maybe it goes along with his prior statements that we needed to invade Pakistan, or at least act without their permission in those borders.

Obama is a grown man, he knows what part of the sermon is entertaining, provocative. But how about his two daughters? I can’t imagine taking my daughter to this kind of church.

And he stayed and allowed his children to exposed to this sick message for political expediency. So who is willing to do anything to get elected?
Don’t tell me that after he got elected and was doing well he could not have found another church, even if it meant going to Wright to tell him he needed to do it to preserve his political viability for national office. (Remember, he had talked to a lot of people about wanting to be president.)
What I find most unnerving in both this case ane the Rezko house deal is that he seems to believe he would not be held accountable. That suggests either great immaturity or a serious character flaw. Only time will tell.

“Inherent inconsistency” is correct (even though I hate that it was Hannity who had to say it)….and, a liar to boot….a flip flopper within a couple of days (didn’t know, did know).

Really, Obama is pathetic as is the Party and his obsessed followers who cannot see this clearly.

Larry, don’t you think that the missile strike in Waziristan last Sunday

Why do you think this factor is somehow more important than the fed lowering interest rates, and the Asian markets reacting favorably?

Maybe you would see this as an issue if Rev. Wright moonlighted as a high priced escort, and Obama was found to have paid large amounts of money to him for “servicing” his soul…. like $22,500 last year.

Man… I never thought I’d see Dems getting in bed with Fox News. Even Hillary said she was glad Obama gave that speech. You people should get real but you are just like the republiKlan right wing. Obama could have licked your boots and you would still bitch.

Get a grip.

Decrease in propaganda response, was that how it went, I’m feeling a little loopy today..

But whatever you do, don’t let those loops get you down, it’s only castles burning.

It’s so confusing, isn’t it?

Precious, uh huh, that’s right…

heh.

Someone get Gates’ ass before Committee this week.

The same democrats who support Obama?

See the problem?

The GOOD thing is that we know what Fox News is all about. So we are watching with wide-open eyes.

I figure there’s no harm since I know what’s what — and they ARE covering the Wright story well, and allow people on ALL sides of the issue to speak out*. And, as Larry says to me when I express my astonishment that I’m watching Fox News, “even a broken clock is right twice a day.”

======

*They invite guests who support Wright and support Obama. Greta sent one of her regular panelists to Chicago to go to the church, and he reported positively about the church, and about Obama’s speech. Greta let him speak. She was far more respectful of his POV than, say, Keith Olbermann, who’d NEVER let anyone on his show who’s not for Obama.

Senator Obama, your association with Rev Wright is not a racial matter, nor is it a family matter, it is a “Chosen Matter” of your own choosing!

You claim your found faith is your moral compass, yet the impact your faith has shown is extremely lacking, as one commandment is “Thous Shall Not Lie” and yet you have lied repeatedly, even when asked a simple question of “have you ever attended any hate sermons of Rev Wright” and your answer last week was a strong “NO”! Yet on Monday, you come out and state you have! So your claim of being of Christian faith is lost in the actions you have taken, unapologetic and without remorse, expecting it to disappear into the woodwork!

Your constant lies over Rezko, NAFTA and your denials of race baiting till exposed in the 4 page memo combined with repeated denials over attendance at sermons of Rev Wright add towards your so called Christian values, your moral compass and your ability to be trusted?

Your continued claims of being the “New Voice to remove the divisiveness of Washington” has faded in the actions you have exposed over the months of barely being under the observation microscope! When you are a politician who requires being caught before admission of guilt, places you in the same bandwagon of politicians of old! Yet you carry a far more dangerous weapon than the normal Washington politicians have available, you inject the race card as an attempt to squash your sins! You claim you are above the normal frey of dirty politics, but examination of your Minister, family and your campaign in the past few months, is now allowed, since you opened the pandora’s box in covering your failures!

Your minister envoked vile remarks during a sermon towards your opponent late last year, something you appear to condon since you have never rejected those words!

Your wife invoked the race card on 2 occassions, by telling blacks “to get it” and her trading a stance against your words on Iraq as a “fairy tale” into a racial remark! Just adding to your wifes tantrums in front of crowds, her remark about “keeping your own house in order, how can you do so in the White House” yet both you and your wife expose your children to a preacher who promotes hatred of America and vile remarks against fellow Americans is far worse in corrupting the minds of youths than the actions of an adult!

Then it comes to you Barack, you preach elequently no doubt, but the undertones of your message are constantly being examined and every time you are proven the opposite of your words! When questioning your moral fiber you constantly have stumped of having a good and just one, when examined closely, it is discovered your moral mentor is a racial biggot and a hate monger and you have the lowest of moral fortitude to excuse your actions based upon racial lines in America! You expose a weakenss of your own family’s shame as reasons for your following a hate monger is shameful to say the least!

As people are fearing foreclosures, lost jobs, no healthcare, you injects the stereotype of racial fear into the mix! Where is your morality and compass Barack Obama, you exposed things in such a way that shouts one thing “Those you surrouind yourself with, your wife, who freely denounces anyone on racial terms with bitterness, your Pastor who invokes the continuation of racial hatred in your church and peoples daily lives and now your own words of injecting race as a means for your chosen path of defense” exposes the sort of person you are! You ask continually for transparency and yet you had Michelle’s Thesis removed from Princeton’s website! You claim Transparency of others and yet you hide your own values under the cloak of lies, deceit and shameful accussaions of others!

You are far from a candidate of “Hope” Senator Obama as hope requires someone strong and able to look actions in the eyes and explain them with or without remorse, and you showed continually neither, just gave fancy words, some even stolen to ressurect your failures as a person, man and mostly a candidate for President!

You have shown what “Change” you bring with lies, deception and derailling, this is politics of old OBama, why would anyone believe anything other, as “Actions speak louder than words”!

Obama is a grown man, he knows what part of the sermon is entertaining, provocative

Minimizing sophistry for whom?

It’s real, Obama’s words, and wright’s, and there in lies the problem.

It’s harmful to pretend the actions we choose have no consequence whether you’re Bush, Cheney or Obama.

There is a larger war going on, none of these people, AT ALL, with the exception of Clinton, are qualified to run it.

How would you defeat the US in a greater asymmetric war?

Well, look at the beauty’s we have in Washington, now, and the DNC male candidate, it’s all unreal. I mean, it’s OK to take money from Rezko, or Exxon, and pretend it doesn’t matter, right? Again, Larry’s pig post from Sunday pretty much gave a run down of HOW the republicans lost the war in seven short years.

Reality is the basis upon which we make decisions, if we think a guy like Rezko is OK, we’re rationalizing, and denying.

We will not be able to see the greater picture, understand out weaknesses, and understand how, and why we are compromised. Our decision making process is mediocre, because our leaders are mediocre, stupid and corrupt.

Again, every single thing we discuss on NQ
ultimately relates to national security, its all interconnected, it’s a matter of seeing it these issues as an integrated whole.

Is it just me, or has anybody else wondered how Obama can have such a vivid memory of his father, to the point of writing a book about him, who ran out when he was two years old, yet has nothing complimentary or kind to say about his mother and grandparents who raised him through to adulthood.
Ask yourselves, What did your fathers say, do, look like, act, relate to you, etc when you were that age? I’ll bet that nobody has ONE clear memory of him, considering the fact that at that age, speech and rational thought are not developed. Like everything else I think his father is a figment of his imagination, planted in his mind by Rev. Wright, to glorify his black roots. Furthermore I believe that he considered Wright as his surrogate father and is highly influenced by his (racial)teachings.

Why do you think this factor is somehow more important than the fed lowering interest rates, and the Asian markets reacting favorably?

Could be a topic as well, especially Asia’s reaction to it.
Certainly a better choice of topic than yet ANOTHER bilious rant about Obama.

I didn’t hear Rev. Wright make any effort to separate American policy from the American people, the American country, American politicians, or the Bush Administration. He paints the entire country and all that the country stands for with an overly broad brush. There are many Americans, yourself likely included, who would disagree with many aspects of our country’s foreign policy, and they have expressed that opposition in productive, focused, and intelligent ways. Many “progressive” Americans are sickened by the complicity and enabling behavior of many elected officials within the Democratic party as well. I see Rev. Wright’s diatribes as condemning you, me and everyone else outside of his Afrocentric church. While I also believe that we are witnessing the sick spectacle of private enterprise prisons becoming the largest growth industry in our country, it is not just Black people who are sent to prison in unconscionable numbers, but poor people in general. Poor Blacks, poor Whites, poor Asians, poor Hispanics will be ground-up and spit out by our criminal justice (“just us” — Richard Pryor) system in far greater numbers than those who can afford to throw wrenches into the system. While public defenders may do a fine job sometimes, they are overburdened, overworked, and underfunded, when compared to prosecutors. Additionally, they must work in the same system as do the prosecutors, and can’t afford to piss off the politicians.

I thought they really mattered. I thought they had the power to affect people’s behavior. Not so much in Wright’s case. Just part of our club’s venting ritual that you cracker’s wouldn’t understand.
Listen, if I were black I’d be really angry about the state of race in America. Hell, I’m a minority myself and pretty frickin’ angry about the label a lot of the time. But Obama is the biggest scam artist I’ve ever seen. What has he EVER done for the black community? And now he’s wearing his race like a martyr. Words were so precious and powerful to him and now their just the outbursts of a crazy uncle? He’s out there using the code words “Hookwinked, bamboozled, etc” in his “black for a day” imitation and he wants to move beyond the racial divides? The whole thing is incredible to watch.
I like that, “Black for a day”.

WORDS is the first word of my comment

Where is the media outrage at the words of Jerry Fallwell? Pat Robertson? John Hagee? Billy Graham?
Robertson and Fallwell are (and were respectively) more than welcome in the current Whitehouse. Where are the outraged, shocked, jowl wobbling calls for condemnation by those they advise??

Where is your outrage?

- Pat Robertson suggested a severe stroke was god’s retribution for Arial Sharon returning land to the Palestinians and that Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination more than likely occurred for the same reason.
- Jerry Falwell suggested “…the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians” were responsible for 9/11. Faux News spent days fawning over the legacy of Jerry Falwell after his death. A washed up Christopher Hitchens the only sanity amongst the lot of them.
- Billy Graham, a spiritual advisor to Bill Clinton claimed a Jewish stranglehold of the mainstream American media “must be broken or the country’s going down the drain…”
- Francis Schaeffer, hero to the lot of these sick, soulless charlatans, encouraged civil disobedience to restore biblical morality, suggested secularism in America’s public schools was akin to Soviet Russia, compared Hitler’s extermination of the Jews to America’s embrace of abortion and called for violent overthrow of any American government that would support it. He was invited to lunch with presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush, Sr.

Where is the media outrage? Where is your outrage? In for a penny in for a pound right? No?

No. Instead we get increasing Faux news links, Bill Kristol’s always right on commentary, links from the Drudge report, breathless condemning of Obama for “Rovian tactics” and excited high fiving of Rove himself because he’s real smart and he “gets it”. Airtime to Frank Luntz (And yes i’ve watched the videos Susan, grandmas and telly prompters) and Sean Hannity’s usual chest beating and ego maniacal bullshit. But wait…he’s now your source for all thats “real” about Obama and his evil, DIABOLICAL evil. Why? Because he brandishes the talking points and tells you exactly what you want to hear.

No…the world hasn’t turned upside down. You’ve turned upside down.
Progressive voices, Stephanie Miller, Mike Malloy, Rhandi Rhodes, Keith Olbermann, The Huffington Post, Daily Kos to name a few, no matter your thoughts on them individually, have been and are all much needed pillars of the growing left wing thinking on American political criticism, news and talk radio. Now purely because they support “the other guy”, no matter how heartfelt, reasoned, honest or genuine their reasoning, they’re the enemy. Their opinion suspect and redundant and Sean Hannity is it! Always with the weak caveat “I know, i know…” and always with a great big hairy “but” around the corner.
Talk about double speak and kool aid.

Meanwhile claims of voter suppression, hate mail, insults, invective and bullying by Obama supporters are increasing. One commenter apparently was so a feared for his/her opinion being harangued by these so called hooligans (even in this incredibly partisan forum) it had to be made anonymously. Another threw a tantrum and went on “writers strike” to back slapping bravado, us vs them gloats and stick it to em’ nods. Strange, everything i’ve read here told me it was Obama supporters who were the whiners.
The FACT that there is an element of Clinton supporters who do EXACTLY the same thing isn’t given a thought. Obama is tainted, hate filled and his entire candidacy is questionable BECAUSE of his supporters. Hillary’s nutbag supporters are by your silence of them an irrelevant minority if a reality at all.
Telling it like it is is one thing, having an opinion is another…being naive and intellectually dishonest
to make that opinion smacks of that which you accuse Obama supporters of suffering from. (I’d also like to add I’ve have made numerous comments here, i always try to be as well researched, honest, thought out and open for debate as possible. Yet i’m either responded to by the sound of crickets…or in more recent cases personal insults. So much for the debate Clinton supporters crave and demand).

But then again we are talking about ALL Obama supporters. You know, the bamboozled morons who can’t spell and follow empty platitudes because they don’t know any better. Or is that elite prius driving intellectuals voting for a black man because of white liberal guilt? The double speak, contradictions and hypocrisy are head spinning. I’m not surprised you can’t keep up with yourselves. Neither am i surprised Faux news is the new golden calf.

…”Obama, the most dangerous man in America”…and yet the lot of you if he got the nomination would vote for Mcain.

d.

Temper temper.

What you would have learned if you had followed the Maher reference is that the enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend.

He participated with Maher in a “statistical demonstration” (rehearsed, of course) which showed that Obama was by far the people’s favorite. That they did this with a stacked SoCal audience may have been beyond the scope of the average viewer with no background in sampling.

The point is that we really do not yet know what his guy’s game is.

Congratulations on retrieving the button, BTW.

I think we have to ask ourselves why the OTHER stations (MSNBC , CNN, etc) were negligent in finding these tapes, were negligent in bringing factual evidence to their listeners, and continued to annoint Obama as more than he actually is.

I think we ALL watched the willfull trashing of Hillary Clinton over the last few months, while Obama rode the “post-racial great uniter” horse to the nomination.

I never thought I’d be watching Fox News, either, but they appear to be the only ones reporting on the tapes and giving Americans a fuller image of who Barak Obama is and has been.

With all due respect.

You are so dreamy.

I agree. I was actually relieved to listen to NEWT GINGRICH last night on Fox! It’s the only network that is speaking the truth about this. This morning, there were Obama love fests everywhere on NBC, ABC, etc. NOT ONE STATION mentioned that he lied last week on national television. He firmly declared that he had not heard these sermons or controversial comments–on several different stations Friday. Yesterday, he openly admitted it. Is this not important? This is not about “some guy.” This person is running to be President! And the judgment question is also critical. Gingrich emphasized this: if he did not have the judgment to confront Wright about this, or remove himself from this environment, then how can he be trusted on the world stage, dealing with all kinds of nefarious characters who want to take advantage of presidential powers and associations? Today, the tone seems to be “poor Obama.” The only reason he is “courageously” dealing with this now, is because has hidden it all this time, and it threatened his candidacy. These points seem incredibly obvious to me, and I hope, to the average American, because the MSM continues their snow job.

Thanks.

eww some independent. More like a seperate reality troll comment.

I would imagine that his realization that the FBI had a mole in the Rezko operation who can place him at certain planning meetings –which was unknown to Barak while he was doing so—-has completely unnerved him, and he’s thinking about what he’s going to say to defuse THAT catastrophe, too.

So you’re comfortable with Obama’s 20 year friendship with a hate monger and racist like Wright.

And you wonder why Obamanoids are viewed as cultists and fools.

Agree completely.

What we LEARNED from Obama’s speech is that, contrary to what he told tne news media LAST week (he never heard Wright’s comments and wasn’t there), he actually WAS there, heard them, and refuses to disown the man who said them.

THAT is the point. Obama, with a lotta “bamboozling” and “hoodwinking,” LIED to the media and the American people last week.

And he only GAVE this speech because he knew the videos were out there, witnesses who had seen him nodding in the pews, were out there, and he had no choice but to come clean.

This was not a lofty speech about “race in America.”

This was a desperate speech from a man who lied who knew he had no choice, to save his career.

He could have that speech a year ago, but chose not to until he was forced to.

CONTENT OF THEIR CHARACTER, as Martin Luther King said.

Bamboozling and hoodwinking come to mind.

The old OKIE-DOKE , to attract white liberal votes, while his true self hides at Trinity church.

Yes, Douglas, those preachers are despicable as well. Same for Rev. Phelps and his family who show up to protest and condemn gays at funerals of military servicemen and women. They have all been denounced and criticised. If you want, you have my blessing to personally kick their worthless asses. But the Clintons, neither Bill nor Hillary, were their devoted followers for 20 years. The Clintons didn’t tell the world that these ministers were their surrogate parent. The Clintons didn’t contribute $22,500 to any of those ministers last year. Fine, so what is your point? Few, if any, writing for this blog or submitting comments to blog postings, are viewing FOX News through rose colored glasses. We don’t view O’Reilly or Hannity as our friends or supporters. We do see them as equal opportunity haters of all Democrats, but they are finding many more “NEW” and juicy bits to hate about Obama right now, and they are getting those bits out there when Olbermann and MSNBC are doing their level best to hide, deny the existence of, belittle, and outright lie about anything that reflects badly on the behavior or judgement of the new messiah.

“Where is the media outrage at the words of Jerry Fallwell? Pat Robertson? John Hagee? Billy Graham?”

Are any of these people the spiritual mentor for any presidential candidate for 20 years?

Remember that Bush(a presidential candidate), Bob Jones University incident in 2000? Wasn’t there a media outcry, and Bush had to issue a formal apology?

Instead of poor granny, Obama should throw Rev Wright under the bus. But no, he still needs the black vote.

I think Obama has issues with WOMEN, period.

He thinks it’s his mom’s fault that his absent Black Dad was an abusive alcoholic bigamist.

The man needs serious counseling.

Rob Gard, that’s a great way of putting it. I like that.

I don’t read Powell as minimizing the treatment of Palestinians.

I know that you do not combat racism by conferences that produce declarations containing hateful language, some of which is a throwback to the days of “Zionism equals racism;” or supports the idea that we have made too much of the Holocaust;

Yes their treatment has been abysmal by everyone Hamas included !!

I am tired of the attitude that it is only Israel or the USA. How about all of the Arab countries in the region, the PLO, Hamas, etc? They all have a role. That infamous conference was a competition about who could gave the most anti-semitic speech. It had nothing to do with actually putting forward ideas to help resolve the issue.

“who could give” (sorry)

OK I am a definite Democrat, more willing to talk about race than other white Dems I know. And lately I’ve been turning to Fox because they, too, are willing to talk about race head on rather than nervously dancing away from the subject.

Those of us who have been around awhile DID express outrage at the Robertson, Falwells every time they opened their mouths….and we will continue to do so!

But Obama’s connections cannot be explained away by their existence, either!

The “progressives” have been on a vendetta lately against Hillary. Please note: I was an Edwards supporter and was vehemently against Hillary. However, Obama has proven himself to be an inexperienced, arrogant opportunist. At this stage of the game, with the economy a mess and the world not much better, I have been propelled into blocking Obama because it would be better to have some experienced players back in to right the financial situation and perhaps restore our image in the world. In countries with a Parliamentary system you’ll see people in office long enough to either do good (or bad). So, the thought of maybe another 4 years of a Clinton team doesn’t look so outlandish now…consider the choice of McCain.

Instead of discussing the fact that Medicare is being squeezed deliberately so that doctors drop our or don’t accept new patients (and I’ve already had to deal with this problem) we are being dragged into a race as the issue sucking up all the oxygen.

The problems we here encompass not only race but economic justice…they overlap and affect EVERYONE. John Edwards knew this and that is why Martin Luther King III urged him to stay in the race. He hasn’t endorse Obama as far as I can see, either.

Obama, with a combination of his own ambition and the enabling of some very stupid party leaders, is erasing the important issues and setting the Democratic Party up for defeat in November. And, when that happens, where, for example, do all those Seniors on Medicare go?? Who sends them to the corporate hospitals who get the increased dollars? I guess they don’t go…maybe they go to another planet???

Wise up…Obama is not helping us. He is a “divider” and if this keeps up, we are going to throw our chances away. We lost other good people to this bandwagon….Biden on foreign policy; Edwards on domestic issues…thanks to the “progressives” who are blind to what Obama really IS, rather than what he purports to be.

Excuse the typos…Doctors drop OUT not “our”; The problems we HAVE encompass (not “here”)

Obama’s dealing with this issue shows he’s incompetent, naive, and unvetted. And he would be more divisive than uniting.

“I’m sure Adolph Hitler was a courteous individual”

Godwin point

Well, if it isn’t, it’s definitely a reasonable facsimile or one of the inspirations for the film Deliverance.

The hell it doesn’t. Obama is a damn politician. If he doesn’t have enough common sense to know that having a 20 year relationship with his “spiritual mentor,” a guy affiliated with his campaign is going to bite him when the man in question is SELLING TAPES of himself calling the other candidate a bitch and worse, telling his parishioners to sing God Damn America, and blaming the US for 9/11, then he’s a damn fool and I don’t trust anyone with such poor judgment. And you better believe that if some guy’s parish priest said this stuff and the politician did not denounce him, he’d be in hot water too. Sure, we have religious freedom, but we also have free speech, and politicians who make stupid remarks like Wright’s suffer the consequences, just ask Trent lott. Public figures depend on public support and can’t just do any damn thing they want if they want to keep it.