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Progressives, Socialists, and Marxists - Updated (Bottom of Page)

What’s in a name, anyway? Well, plenty, actually. Names, or labels, are often self-identifiers. That is certainly the case in the political realm where labels of “Socialist” or “Marxist” or even “Progressive” carries a lot of weight, and baggage.

Hold the phone, let me back up here.

The other night when my partner and I were at the airport, we had dinner at Chili’s while we waited for our next flight. All of a sudden, my partner said, “Ohmygosh, that’s James Carville!” Sure enough, it was. And he was sitting right beside us, presumably with his wife. They didn’t say a word to each other the whole time, so I’m pretty sure it was Mary (teehee). Anywho - they were both reading, and I wasn’t going to bother them, though I WANTED to ask, “So, James - why DID you stab Hillary in the back? Just wondering!” Ahem.

Then, we were making our way down the concourse to our next flight. My partner very kindly was getting me a beverage (iced latte with an extra shot, if you must know - yes, I am one of those who are addicted to fancy coffee drinks. I prefer cappuccinos, myself, and have my very own espresso machine which I use daily. A lot. And Peet’s is my brand, but they don’t have those here on the East Coast, so Starbucks it was. Aren’t you glad I shared?). I noticed these two men walking past me, and as the light dawned, I realized one of them was my old seminary professor, Cornel West (his companion looked like someone with whom I went to seminary). Yep, there he went, one of the premier philosophers of our time. Okey dokey, a trip down Memory Lane for me, but so what? I’ll get to that soon.

First, just a little background on Cornel West. Some of you may know him from one of his books, Race Matters, which propelled him into the national spotlight. That book was followed by Democracy Matters. He taught at Union Theological Seminary for a while, and is now at Princeton. This excellent article, Imagining Social Justice: Cornel West’s Prophectic Public Intellectualism, by Gary Darrien, also a professor at Union, is a great resource on Cornel West, and includes much of his history, in terms of his upbringing, his intellectual pursuits (he attended Harvard for his undergrad, and was admitted to the doctoral program in Philosophy at Princeton at the age of TWENTY), and how he came to be at Union:

By the mid-1970s West was already acquiring a reputation as an intellectual spellbinder. The first time that I saw him, in 1975, he had attracted a sidewalk crowd of a dozen people at Harvard Divinity School and was expounding exuberantly on the varieties of black nationalism. The crowd got larger as passersby judged, as I had, “That must be Cornel West.” Two years later he began his teaching career at Union Theological Seminary, which seemed to him the perfect home for his broad intellectual and activist interests.

“You know, my aim was always to teach at Union Seminary,” he later recalled. “Union Seminary, for me, was the real institutional site that brought together all of my interests. It was a Christian seminary, it was deeply shaped by progressive politics, Marxism, feminism, antihomophobic thought and black liberation theology.”

West continued about his decision to teach at Union:

“I decided to teach at Union Seminary for three reasons: It was (and still is) the center of liberation theology in the country; it was one of the best places for black theological education in the country; and it allowed me to teach and read widely in philosophy, social theory, history, literary criticism and cultural thought. Union was the perfect place to become a broadly engaged cultural critic with a strong grounding in the history of philosophy and criticism.”

That’s my alma mater! I took several classes with Professor West, and remember well an exchange that happened in one of his classes. But to set the stage, I was the Student Senate Rep from the Lesbian/Gay Caucus all three years of the M.Div. program, and was completely out. At some point in the classroom discussion the topic of which I cannot recall, I said, “Oh, for God’s sake,” to which one of the African American students in the class looked at me, and said, “for whose sake?” in such a way, and in context with the discussion that clearly implied I was not in a position to call on God given my sexual orientation. That pissed me off, needless to say. I got up and walked out. Another student, and African American woman, came after me to talk about it. We were sitting in the Student Union when class let out, and Cornel West came over to see why I had left class. After I explained to him what happened (he couldn’t hear it where he was), he just lowered his head, shook it, and said, “We have such a long way to go.” He didn’t just talk the talk about “antihomophobic thought,” he walked it, too.

Imagine my surprise then, when I read this:

(West) replied that it should be possible to defend the progressive possibilities of heterosexual marriage from a feminist and egalitarian standpoint without being accused of bigotry against gays, lesbians, and single parents. Repeating a central argument of his book on the family, West contended that children did best when raised by two biological parents that were married to each other. The empirical evidence on this point was terribly clear, and important, he urged. To set progressivism against it was disastrous for progressivism and for children: “We make it clear that this does not stigmatize single mothers and fathers, disqualify loving gay or lesbian parents, or preclude successful adoption of children.” He took no interest in bolstering discrimination against gay or lesbian parents. Progressivism had to be against that, just as it had to “put a premium on the well-being of children.”

Huh - that sounds a whole lot like McCain’s response to the Washington Blade the other day in response to a question on adoption. I admit I was a little surprised by West’s response. It is hard to reconcile his statement with the man who was upset by how I was treated in his classroom. Just goes to show that McCain’s position is not all that unique, even in progressive circles.

As I mentioned above, this is not just a trip down Memory Lane for me. You may recall that Larry Johnson had an excellent piece in No Quarter entitled, “Barack Obama’s Revolutionary Buddies,” in which he mentioned “Progressives for Obama.” Wanna take a guess who one of those Progressives are? Yep, you got it, Cornel West. He was one of those listed from this organization.

Now I should add, and the article from which I have been quoting is quite clear, that West is a socialist. Here is more from Prof. Dorrien’s excellent piece (bear with the introduction of two other socialists - it helps for the context):

Harrington was eloquent about the structural injustices of capitalism, but he passed over its equally devastating operations on the cultural level.

That was never true of West, who emphasized cultural criticism, writing about popular music, television, sexuality, identity politics, black culture, white supremacism, the culture of nihilism, and the cultural limitations of progressive organizations dominated by whites. West’s pamphlet for DSA, “Toward a Socialist Theory of Racism,” was a signature statement for him and the organization. (Emphasis mine.) Stressing the Marxist bias of most American socialist theorizing about racism, West delineated four main types. The first viewed racism as an epiphenomenon of the class struggle, subsuming racial injustice under the general rubric of working class exploitation. Eugene Debs, an icon of this approach, had a simple answer to the question of what socialism offered blacks: “Nothing, except socialism.” Debs took for granted that racism was a divide-and-conquer ruse of the ruling class. To him, a socialist revolution was the only solution to racial injustice and all other social evils; any solution outside the labor framework was racism in reverse. West acknowledged that Debs, having fought racism bravely, was an honorable example of the color-blind strategy; nonetheless, socialist reductionism was not the answer, since it ignored the complexity of the problem.

And this ties into Matthew Weaver’s outstanding piece, “Obama Is Hiding A Radical Past,” in which he details Barack Obama’s membership in the DSA, and its implications for this election. If you have not read it, I highly recommend it to you.

I have to say, though, in full disclosure, that Professor West originally supported Hillary Clinton. Check out this video from the State of Black America and his challenges to Obama’s ability (major H/T to WasLn, etc., for leading me to the New Zealand site, another one at which real investigation into Obama’s Socialist ties is taking place):

Too bad he didn’t leave it at that. Check out this video and how he introduces Obama (again, H/T to the New Zealand site):

Oh, dear. “Comrade”? Um, yeah. The evidence is quickly mounting that, indeed, Obama is a Socialist, and a card-carrying one at that. Now, I freely admit that I have socialistic tendencies insofar as I am a firm believer in sharing the wealth with those who are less fortunate - I think that is a biblical mandate. And, you would most likely win a game of Monopoly with me (”oh, you need some money? Here, take some of mine!”), but I am not running for president, nor am I a card-carrying member of an official Socialist movement with a capital “S.” There is a difference after all. But, Obama is. And many of his associates are.

I wonder when the MSM is going to pick up THIS story?? So far, it’s looking like NEVER. So the DNC has selected (and I am using that word intentionally) a card-carrying Socialist as the Democratic Presidential Nominee. I wonder how THAT’S gonna play in Kansas? I can tell you that I don’t think it would go over too well here in SC. And that is just the point - the majority of people have no idea that this is the case. Add to that his ties to Black Nationalism as expressed through the rantings of Rev. Jeremiah Wright (and really - since when is a millionnaire considered to be “poor”?), the connection of his church to the Nation of Islam in general, and Louis Farrakhan in particular (not to mention the proximity of Farrakan’s complex to both Ayers’ and Obama’s houses), and it is painting a picture of a man who, at the very LEAST, does not represent the majority of Americans. At most, it has the very real potential of putting a tremendous amount of power in the hands of a man whose mindset would lead us down a dangerous road.

The bottom line is this: Obama continues to be an unknown quantity, with less than a month to go before the election. The vast majority of Americans have NO idea who this man really is, and it seems his handlers have worked very hard to ensure that is the case. But thanks to the efforts of people like Matthew Weaver, Larry Johnson, and New Zeal Research Associates, we are finally learning more. I hope it is not too late…

UPDATE: Alert reader, hadenough, provided documentation that contradicts my claim that Cornel West had been a Clinton supporter before he became an Obama supporter. The information I had was erroneous, and hadenough was correct. It does not change the fundamental issues regarding Obama and his “comrades,” but in the interest of accuracy, I feel it is important to note this change. Here is the LINK to the documentation regarding West’s support of Obama.

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Comment by John Smith | 2008-10-09 08:20:39

I guess no announcement.

Comment by Galt, Master Thrall of Planet Triskelion | 2008-10-09 09:36:14

Maybe this is it? Excuse the OT to the topic of the thread.

Mac’s new Ayers ad, transcript and sources. I recall Larry reported the GOP had a huge dossier on Obama. It looks like they are putting it to use now.

Plenty of popcorn and butter ready! Only 50 Quatloos for a large bucket! Extra butter and salt only 10 Quatloos!

Galt, Master Thrall of Planet Triskelion
Proprietor, the NQ Popcorn Concession
Since Circa 2008

For Immediate Release
October 9, 2008

McCain-Palin 2008 Launches New Web Ad: “Ayers”

ARLINGTON, VA — Today, McCain-Palin 2008 released its latest web ad, entitled “Ayers.” The ad highlights Barack Obama’s long-standing relationship with unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers. From his political introduction at Bill Ayers’ house in 1995 to their service together on two boards, Barack Obama has long known Bill Ayers but has not been straightforward with the American people. This is an issue of judgment and candor and Barack Obama has not told the American people the truth.

VIEW THE WEB AD HERE

Script For “Ayers” (WEB :90)

ANNCR: Barack Obama and domestic terrorist Bill Ayers. Friends. They’ve worked together for years.

But Obama tries to hide it. Why?

Obama launched his political career in Ayers’ living room.

Ayers and Obama ran a radical “education” foundation, together.

They wrote the foundation’s by-laws, together.

Obama was the foundation’s first chairman.

Reports say they, “distributed more than $100 million to ideological allies with no discernible improvement in education.”

When their relationship became an issue, Obama just responded, “This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood.”

That’s it?

We know Bill Ayers ran the “violent left wing activist group” called Weather Underground.

We know Ayers’ wife was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list.

We know they bombed the Capitol. The Pentagon. A judge’s home.

We know Ayers said, “I don’t regret setting bombs. …. I feel we didn’t do enough.”

But Obama’s friendship with terrorist Ayers isn’t the issue.

The issue is Barack Obama’s judgment and candor.

When Obama just says, “This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood.”

Americans say, “Where’s the truth, Barack?”

Barack Obama. Too risky for America.

JOHN MCCAIN: I’m John McCain and I approve this message.

AD FACTS: Script For “Ayers” (WEB :90)

ANNCR: Barack Obama and domestic terrorist Bill Ayers. Friends. They’ve worked together for years. But Obama tries to hide it. Why? Obama launched his political career in Ayers’ living room.

Barack Obama’s Relationship With Ayers “Went Much Deeper, Ran Much Longer And Was Much More Political Than Obama Said.” CNN’S DREW GRIFFIN: “Barack Obama confirmed during a primary debate that he knew Ayers and when pressed, said they served on a charitable foundation board together. And Obama condemned Ayers support of violence. But the relationship between Obama and Ayers went much deeper, ran much longer, and was much more political than Obama said.” (CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” 10/6/08)

Barack Obama First Met William Ayers In 1995 During His First State Senate Campaign, When Obama Held Event At Home Of Ayers And Wife Bernardine Dohrn, Which One Attendee Said Was Aimed At “Launching Him” In First Campaign For State Senate. “In 1995, State Senator Alice Palmer introduced her chosen successor, Barack Obama, to a few of the district’s influential liberals at the home of two well known figures on the local left: William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. While Ayers and Dohrn may be thought of in Hyde Park as local activists, they’re better known nationally as two of the most notorious — and unrepentant — figures from the violent fringe of the 1960s anti-war movement. … ‘I can remember being one of a small group of people who came to Bill Ayers’ house to learn that Alice Palmer was stepping down from the senate and running for Congress,’ said Dr. Quentin Young, a prominent Chicago physician and advocate for single-payer health care, of the informal gathering at the home of Ayers and his wife, Dohrn. ‘[Palmer] identified [Obama] as her successor.’ … Dr. Young and another guest, Maria Warren, described it similarly: as an introduction to Hyde Park liberals of the handpicked successor to Palmer, a well-regarded figure on the left. ‘When I first met Barack Obama, he was giving a standard, innocuous little talk in the living room of those two legends-in-their-own-minds, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn,’ Warren wrote on her blog in 2005. ‘They were launching him — introducing him to the Hyde Park community as the best thing since sliced bread.’” (Ben Smith, “Obama Once Visited ’60s Radicals,” The Politico, 1/22/08)

CNN: The Meeting Was Widely Considered As “Barack Obama’s Political Coming Out Party And It Was Hosted By Bill Ayers.” CNN’S DREW GRIFFIN: “Anderson, this meeting at Bill Ayers home has been classified in many different ways. What I can tell you from the two people who were actually there, is number one, former Senator Alice Palmer says she, in no way organized this meeting and she was invited and attended it briefly. And Doctor Quentin Young, a retired doctor, told us this indeed was Barack Obama’s political coming out party and it was hosted by Bill Ayers.” (CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” 10/6/08)

ANNCR: Ayers and Obama ran a radical “education” foundation, together.

Barack Obama Led Education Foundation That “Poured More Than $100 Million Into The Hands Of Community Organizers And Radical Education Activists” And “Translated Mr. Ayers’s Radicalism Into Practice.” “Despite having authored two autobiographies, Barack Obama has never written about his most important executive experience. From 1995 to 1999, he led an education foundation called the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC), and remained on the board until 2001. The group poured more than $100 million into the hands of community organizers and radical education activists. … The CAC’s agenda flowed from Mr. Ayers’s educational philosophy, which called for infusing students and their parents with a radical political commitment, and which downplayed achievement tests in favor of activism. In the mid-1960s, Mr. Ayers taught at a radical alternative school, and served as a community organizer in Cleveland’s ghetto. … CAC translated Mr . Ayers’s radicalism into practice. Instead of funding schools directly, it required schools to affiliate with ‘external partners,’ which actually got the money. Proposals from groups focused on math/science achievement were turned down. Instead CAC disbursed money through various far-left community organizers, such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (or Acorn).” (Stanley Kurtz, Op-Ed, “Obama and Ayers Pushed Radicalism On Schools,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/23/08)

From March Of 1995 Until September Of 1997, Barack Obama And Ayers Attended At Least Seven Meetings Together Relating To The Chicago Annenberg Challenge. (Chicago Annenberg Challenge, Board Of Directors Meeting, Minutes Of The Board, 3/15/95, 3/31/95, 4/13/95, 6/5/95, 9/30/97; National Annenberg Challenge Evaluation Meeting, List Of Participants, 5/24/95; Chicago Annenberg Challenge, Chicago School Reform Collaborative Meeting, Minutes, 10/23/96)

CNN: The Paths Of Barack Obama And Ayers “Repeatedly Crossed” At The Annenberg Challenge. CNN’S DREW GRIFFIN: “One place their paths repeatedly crossed, according to a CNN review of board minutes and other records, was Chicago’s Annenberg Challenge project where a $50 million grant from the Annenberg Foundation matched locally raised funds to improve schools. According to participants and project records, Bill Ayers fought to bring the Annenberg grant to Chicago, Barack Obama was recruited as its chair. For seven years, Bill Ayers and Obama among many others, worked on funding for education projects, including some experiments supported by Ayers.” (CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” 10/6/08)

ANNCR: They wrote the foundation’s by-laws, together.

Barack Obama “Served On The Board’s Governance Committee With Mr. Obama, And Worked With Him To Craft CAC Bylaws.” “The Daley documents show that Mr. Ayers sat as an ex-officio member of the board Mr. Obama chaired through CAC’s first year. He also served on the board’s governance committee with Mr. Obama, and worked with him to craft CAC bylaws. Mr. Ayers made presentations to board meetings chaired by Mr. Obama. Mr. Ayers spoke for the Collaborative before the board. Likewise, Mr. Obama periodically spoke for the board at meetings of the Collaborative.” (Stanley Kurtz, Op-Ed, “Obama and Ayers Pushed Radicalism On Schools,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/23/08)

Bill Ayers Was Asked To Help Barack Obama Formulate The Chicago Annenberg Challenge By-Laws. (Chicago Annenberg Challenge Board Of Directors Minutes, 3/15/95)

ANNCR: Obama was the foundation’s first chairman.

Barack Obama “Was The First Chairman Of The Chicago Annenberg Challenge.” “In the 1990s, Ayers was instrumental in starting the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which was awarded nearly $50 million by a foundation to help reform Chicago schools. Obama was the first chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge and Republicans have been highlighting his ties to Ayers through the group.” (Pete Yost, “University Won’t Open Obama-Related Records Now,” The Associated Press, 8/19/08)

ANNCR: Reports say they, “distributed more than $100 million to ideological allies with no discernible improvement in education.”

Chicago Annenberg Challenge: “Distributed More Than $100 Million To Ideological Allies With No Discernible Improvement In Public Education.” “With Ayers directing the project’s operational arm and Obama overseeing its financial affairs until 1999, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge distributed more than $100 million to ideological allies with no discernible improvement in public education.” (Editorial, “Obama’s Friend, America’s Enemy,” National Review, 8/27/08)

ANNCR: When their relationship became an issue, Obama just responded, “This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood.” That’s it?

Barack Obama On Ayers At Democratic Debate: “This Is A Guy Who Lives In My Neighborhood.” “This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who’s a professor of English in Chicago, who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He’s not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.” (Sen. Barack Obama, ABC Democratic Presidential Debate, Philadelphia, PA, 4/16/08)

ANNCR: We know Bill Ayers ran the “violent left wing activist group” called Weather Underground.

Bill Ayers Was A Leader Of “The Violent Left-Wing Activist Group The Weather Underground.” “Senator Obama’s ties to a former leader of the violent left-wing activist group the Weather Underground are drawing new scrutiny as he battles Senator Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.” (Russell Berman, “Obama’s Ties to Left Come Under Scrutiny,” The New York Sun, 2/19/08)

ANNCR: We know Ayers’ wife was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list.

Bill Ayers’ Wife, Weather Underground Leader Bernardine Dohrn, Appeared On FBI’s “Most Wanted” List. “Bernardine Dohrn, the former leader of the militant Weather Underground who turned herself in after 11 years on the run, says she looks forward to spending time with family and friends and intends to continue a rebellion against ‘the system.’ … ‘I remain committed to the struggle ahead,’ Ms. Dohrn told reporters Wednesday after a court appearance. ‘Given the system which perpetuates … harsh oppression and suffering, rebellion is inevitable and continuous.’ Ms. Dohrn, 38, pleaded innocent to nine charges — seven stemming from the 1969 ‘Days of Rage’ anti-war demonstration in Chicago and two more for jumping bail. She was released on $25,000 bond and a hearing was set for Jan. 13. Ms. Dohrn, who once appeared on the FBI’s most-wanted list, arrived in court with a lawyer and William Ayers, another ex-radical who said he lived with Ms. Dohrn in New York and is the father of her two children.” (James Litke, “Fugitive Leader Surrenders With No Regrets,” The Associated Press, 12/4/80)

ANNCR: We know they bombed the Capitol. The Pentagon. A judge’s home.

In The 1970s, Weather Underground Bombed The Capitol And The Pentagon. “As an Illinois state senator in 2001, Mr. Obama accepted a $200 contribution from William Ayers, a founding member of the group that bombed the U.S. Capitol and the Pentagon during the 1970s.” (Russell Berman, “Obama’s Ties to Left Come Under Scrutiny,” The New York Sun, 2/19/08)

New York State Supreme Court Justice’s House Was Bombed By Weather Underground. “In February 1970, my father, a New York State Supreme Court justice, was presiding over the trial of the so-called “Panther 21,” members of the Black Panther Party indicted in a plot to bomb New York landmarks and department stores. Early on the morning of February 21, as my family slept, three gasoline-filled firebombs exploded at our home on the northern tip of Manhattan, two at the front door and the third tucked neatly under the gas tank of the family car. (Today, of course, we’d call that a car bomb.) A neighbor heard the first two blasts and, with the remains of a snowman I had built a few days earlier, managed to douse the flames beneath the car. That was an act whose courage I fully appreciated only as an adult, an act that doubtless saved multiple lives that night. … Though no one was ever caught or tried for the attempt on my family’s life , there was never any doubt who was behind it. Only a few weeks after the attack, the New York contingent of the Weathermen blew themselves up making more bombs in a Greenwich Village townhouse. The same cell had bombed my house, writes Ron Jacobs in The Way the Wind Blew: A History of the Weather Underground. And in late November that year, a letter to the Associated Press signed by Bernardine Dohrn, Ayers’s wife, promised more bombings.” (John M. Murtagh, “Fire In The Night,” City Journal, 4/30/08)

In His Book, Bill Ayers Writes About Participating In The Bombings Of The Capitol And Pentagon. “Now he has written a book, ‘Fugitive Days’ (Beacon Press, September). Mr. Ayers, who is 56, calls it a memoir, somewhat coyly perhaps, since he also says some of it is fiction. He writes that he participated in the bombings of New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, of the Capitol building in 1971, the Pentagon in 1972.” (Dinitia Smith, “No Regrets For A Love Of Explosives,” The New York Times, 9/11/01)

ANNCR: We know Ayers said, “I don’t regret setting bombs. . I feel we didn’t do enough.”

In The September 11, 2001 New York Times, Ayers Was Quoted Saying “I Don’t Regret Setting Bombs … I Feel We Didn’t Do Enough.” “‘I don’t regret setting bombs,’ Bill Ayers said. ‘I feel we didn’t do enough.’ Mr. Ayers, who spent the 1970’s as a fugitive in the Weather Underground, was sitting in the kitchen of his big turn-of-the-19th-century stone house in the Hyde Park district of Chicago.” (Dinitia Smith, “No Regrets For A Love Of Explosives,” The New York Times, 9/11/01)

ANNCR: But Obama’s friendship with terrorist Ayers isn’t the issue. The issue is Barack Obama’s judgment and candor. When Obama just says, “This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood.” Americans say, “Where’s the truth, Barack?” Barack Obama. Too risky for America. JOHN MCCAIN: I’m John McCain and I approve this message.

Barack Obama On Ayers At Democratic Debate: “This Is A Guy Who Lives In My Neighborhood.” “This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who’s a professor of English in Chicago, who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He’s not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.” (Sen. Barack Obama, ABC Democratic Presidential Debate, Philadelphia, PA, 4/16/08)

Comment by joseyJ | 2008-10-09 10:42:05

It’s not just that Obama was willing to associate himself with ANY corrupt and anti-America character - he LIED about his relationship with them.

Obama said he “barely knew” Rezko, but then we learned Rezko was on his 2004 senate campaign Finance Committee.
Obama said he “barely knew” Ayers, but wrote in Ayers book.

Obama LIES - and our CORPORATE media and press and their Wall Street sponsors - allow it.
Whatever it takes to get another Corporate Puppet into the White House!

 
 

Comment by Kal | 2008-10-09 09:44:37

Amy, thanks for these items. I actually thought the point West made in the first one was critical, and even more so in light of developments over the last couple of days: until we know where his money is really coming from, we really don’t know who BO is.

Quibble: cardcarrying commies I think are out of the question, but unless we want to radically expand McCarthy’s conceptual approach, I have not heard of cardcarrying socialists being put in the same automatically-disqualified category. I know what you are saying, and I agree with it, but I propose that either the word ‘card’ not be over-used or that someone tie it up tighter.

Great tapes!!

 

Comment by MAC TIME | 2008-10-09 09:55:24

At a rally for Biden..the announcer stated…”and your nect Vice-President of the US..JOHN McCAIN!” BAHAWWWWWWWW too FUNNYYY! just showed on FOX..LOL

 
 

Comment by HARP | 2008-10-09 08:23:11

Comment by lark | 2008-10-09 09:17:32

Mark Levin is awesome. Thanks for this post.

Comment by nancysabet | 2008-10-09 10:29:04

He is great. Regarding Obama’s socialist idea, please, this guy does not believe in any thing but himself. He is a jerk, a crook, a bom, he is no socialist.

Comment by BernieO | 2008-10-09 12:58:46

That is my best guess, too. If he were committed to a socialist, progressive ideology I doubt he would have aligned himself with Rezko and allowed him to have slums in Obama’s own district. Nor would he have watered down the bill requiring nuclear power companies to report radioactive leaks.

He has been all over the map, aligning himself with whomever he thought would benefit him. If he has any core beliefs, I sure can’t figure out what they are. Who knows, maybe he is a socialist at heart who pretends to be a capitalist just to get ahead. Or vice versa. He needed that mansion so badly he was willing to risk going to Rezko, who was already being investigated by the Feds. Hardly the act of a true socialistg. Then again maybe he is just a naive egomaniac who really thinks he is so special that his magical persona will cure all our ills. I have never had problems getting a handle on who our presidential candidates are until now. I get dizzy just thinking about Obama. He is very strange.

 
 
 
 

Comment by Bella in Florida | 2008-10-09 08:29:43

I applaud you for exposing the thruth about Obama.

 

Comment by HARP | 2008-10-09 08:31:02

 

Comment by Soldier of Christ | 2008-10-09 08:38:38

Great article! The part of what you said I do have to scold you for:” Now, I freely admit that I have socialistic tendencies insofar as I am a firm believer in sharing the wealth with those who are less fortunate - I think that is a biblical mandate.”
This is not socialistic tendencies, Amy. Let charity, then, be the final arbiter of all our behavior-of all our attitudes and actions toward a misfortunate brother and sister. The only circumstance under which the child of G-d must live is the circumtance of G-d’s love and mercy demonstrated through others and their love. This is not socialist values, it is G-d’s values. People like Cindy Mccain who is a woman of wealth has shown her love, even the Clintons have shown their love for the famine in Africa. I do not believe in the “robin hood” socialist views. If G-d wanted some to be rich and others to be poor, who is to question the Almighty’s reason? It is the rooted love that the Creator plants in us to use it for kindness.

Don’t sell yourself out, child. You are one of those children. Socialist has no place in the realm of our universe with G-d.

Comment by Ivory Bill Woodpecker | 2008-10-09 08:59:12

I do not believe that God chooses for some people to be rich and others poor. I do not believe that [S]He micromanages human affairs in such a fashion.

Comment by Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy | 2008-10-09 09:53:07

Sorry, Soldier - I’m with Ivory Bill on this one. And I do think Jesus practiced a form of socialism “if your neighbor has no coat, and you have two, give him one of yours” - loose translation, and all that. That’s what I mean. That’s a different feel from charity - it is more a mutuality thing than charity, know what I mean?

Anyway - glad you liked the post besides this point! :-)

Comment by rwc | 2008-10-09 10:59:22

The act you ascribed to Jesus is charity not state sponsored socialism/welfare.

 
 
 
 

Comment by bemused | 2008-10-09 08:40:51

I have had mixed feelings about Cornell West. There’s something in Race Matters that struck me as such a stereotypical racist myth I won’t even mention it here, but as I remember he seemed to believe it and it disappointed me that he would. He and I could agree on other things.
It just shows how we can hardly overcome our own deep emotional feelings. I think his opinion on marriage means, his priority is children over justice and he has become convinced that a certain parenting situation is best. I can’t really fault him for that, whether I agree that the research is firm or not. Protectiveness for children is innate, justice is also somewhat of an innate tendency but secondary to survival so it will always get trumped on survival issues.

 

Comment by Kristen | 2008-10-09 08:49:46

I’ve been reading your posts for awhile now and really enjoy your insight. Thanks for an enlightening post.

Comment by Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy | 2008-10-09 10:36:01

Thank you, Kristen! I appreciate that!

 
 

Comment by hadenough | 2008-10-09 08:51:48

The first youtube video says ‘No longer available.’

Comment by Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy | 2008-10-09 09:33:09

Seriously?? It was up yesterday, for pete’s sake! OK - not to be paranoid or anything, but it seems a bit odd that these keep disappearing…I’ll see if I can find it.

Comment by Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy | 2008-10-09 09:34:36

I just checked it elsewhere and it still works. I’ll take a look and see if I can fix it. Thanks.

 

Comment by athy | 2008-10-09 12:13:40

RRRAmy,
another NQ blogger (AMY) passed on this info to us a few days back:

Whenever a YouTube video disappears, there is always a way to “retrieve” it.

For example, if one used the following program (make sure you still have the URL link), then it shouldn’t be a problem.
http://revivetube.com/

 
 
 

Comment by AnninCA | 2008-10-09 08:53:31

I just don’t think people are interested in past associations. I like McCain’s focus that the issue is that he lied. He lied about Wright. He lied about Rezko. He’s lying about Ayers. He has minimized these relationships until he was caught doing so.

We’ve had 8 years of a liar. I’m ready for some real integrity.

He obviously doesn’t think it’s important to stick to the truth. I have not trusted him, due to exactly those lies, since the debates in the primaries.

THAT’s the issue for me.

I do not think Obama is particularly radical himself. I think he used these groups to get money to run for office. He strikes me only as someone who strives to be status quo, and will remain pretty much in the middle on a host of issues.

However, he’s also going to remain a liar to the public. He is not transparent.

Comment by wodiej | 2008-10-09 09:11:41

birds of a feather flock together. Wright and Ayers are not past associations, they are very recent. And I diagree, I think most Americans do care if someone running for President sat in a radical church for 20 years listening to his Reverend say shit like “god damn America”. You don’t think that is radical? Obama is the most liberal person in the senate…that is radical.

Comment by AnninCA | 2008-10-09 09:18:20

Americans know all about Wright, and Obama is ahead. Obviously, it doesn’t matter to at least 50%.

I think the point John is making is right on the money. They issue isn’t Ayers, Wright, or Rezko. The issue is the habit of lying. I’m so relieved to see the approach he’s taking.

THAT’s the issue.

Conservatives worried about socialism will already be voting against Obama.

Comment by lark | 2008-10-09 09:39:56

You make good points and correct points. Why are 50 percent of Americans comfortable with this man? What is it that he offers? He offers what they want. He offers a blurred screen, an out of focus screen.

Most important things in life become good by only a very tiny difference. A very small fraction. A very short gap. GAP. The GAP. What’s the gap? What’s the gap that takes something from being healthy and sound, to contaminated, to actual putrid trash? A day, a few hours, 10 degrees, or 4 degrees. 10M bacteria, 200M bacteria.

People expect Obama to move the lens just 4 degrees and put things in proper focus.

He will not do it. Period. He will never do the little that is needed to make a wrong, right. Period. He will never close the gap. He will always be that piece of food that you don’t know if is going to hurt you or if it is going to nurture you. And voters want to eat it because they are hungry.

I always throw it out when I have a doubt.

Comment by AnninCA | 2008-10-09 09:48:27

Good analogy. One thing I’ve discovered is that if you even read 1/3 of the material provided easily about the core issues, then you’ll overwhelm your dinner buddies with too much information if not very careful. LOL*

People are too busy to worry over the actual issues. They get the gist of stuff. That’s about it.

So fuzzy and out-of-focus works.

 
 
 

Comment by hilldemgoneindie | 2008-10-09 12:49:17

yes, people do care about associations. if, perhaps, mccain or palin had past associations with the kkk or radical pro white entities we’d be talking about romney or huckabee at the top of the repub ticket. we hear cries - CONSTANTLY - of racism, but i submit that it’s racist to dismiss ANY of obama’s controversial relationships. wright, phfleger, ayers, et al… what part of white hating or american hating don’t people get? but ah, it’s against obama (who is 1/2 white lest we forget) so it’s racist. maybe it should be considered 1/2 racist? just thinking out loud. at any rate, unless and until we call out the dems and the obama campaign for racism, LOUD AND CLEAR AND CONTINUOUSLY, they will continue to shout racism about EVERYTHING. the most recent insanity, mccain’s use of the term “that one” is a racist statement? lord…

 
 

Comment by beebop | 2008-10-09 09:14:02

I think that his tendency to change positions 180 degrees, throw over old acquaintences when they are inconvenient and not come out truthfully, keep major portions of his biography hidden and not be forthcoming is too dangerous to put in the WH. We have someone just like that now. Actually, we have two people just like that … George and Dick.

 

Comment by lark | 2008-10-09 09:26:57

Many points. That he is a liar in important. But one cannot underestimate the foundation. Lies makes the person untrustworthy and disqualified. But the foundation makes the person dishonorable.

Yes, in the Christian tradition there is a way back, but it takes a lifetime, a commitment to reversal (repentance - continuous). Yes, Obama can run for president in 2030 or so. But he must first commit to years of saying the truth and of repeating the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Comment by athy | 2008-10-09 12:18:00

AnninCA,
I am not sure I agree with you on your statement that:

“I do not think Obama is particularly radical himself. I think he used these groups to get money to run for office. He strikes me only as someone who strives to be status quo, and will remain pretty much in the middle on a host of issues.”

Watch this video.

Barack Obama and “The Butcher of Kenya”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8QcpdUtxNQ

What is Sen Obama doing in Kenya?
What kind of money is he hoping to raise there and for what?

 
 

Comment by katmandu | 2008-10-09 08:54:10

And Socialists run things so well, no? Here’s an advance view on how well an Obama administration would be run — extrapolate the running of the press plane with running a million bureaucrats (the reporter is CBS’ Dean Reynolds):

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/10/07/politics/fromtheroad/entry4507703.shtml

Obama’s campaign schedule is fuller, more hectic and seemingly improvisational. The Obama aides who deal with the national reporters on the campaign plane are often overwhelmed, overworked and un-informed about where, when, why or how the candidate is moving about. Baggage calls are preposterously early with the explanation that it’s all for security reasons.

If so, I would love to have someone from Obama’s campaign explain why the entire press corps, the Secret Service, and the local police idled for two hours in a Miami hotel parking lot recently because there was nothing to do and nowhere to go. It was not an isolated case.

The national headquarters in Chicago airily dismisses complaints from journalists wondering why a schedule cannot be printed up or at least e-mailed in time to make coverage plans. Nor is there much sympathy for those of us who report for a newscast that airs in the early evening hours. Our shows place a premium on live reporting from the scene of campaign events. But this campaign can often be found in the air and flying around at the time the “CBS Evening News with Katie Couric” is broadcast. I suspect there is a feeling within the Obama campaign that the broadcast networks are less influential in the age of the internet and thus needn’t be accomodated as in the days of yore. Even if it’s true, they are only hurting themselves by dissing audiences that run in the tens of millions every night.

The McCain folks are more helpful and generally friendly. The schedules are printed on actual books you can hold in your hand, read, and then plan accordingly. The press aides are more knowledgeable and useful to us in the news media. The events are designed with a better eye, and for the simple needs of the press corps. When he is available, John McCain is friendly and loquacious. Obama holds news conferences, but seldom banters with the reporters who’ve been following him for thousands of miles around the country. Go figure.

The McCain campaign plane is better than Obama’s, which is cramped, uncomfortable and smells terrible most of the time. Somehow the McCain folks manage to keep their charter clean, even where the press is seated.

The other day in Albuquerque, N.M., the reporters were given almost no time to file their reports after McCain spoke. It was an important, aggressive speech, lambasting Obama’s past associations. When we asked for more time to write up his remarks and prepare our reports, the campaign readily agreed to it. They understood.

Similar requests are often denied or ignored by the Obama campaign aides, apparently terrified that the candidate may have to wait 20 minutes to allow reporters to chronicle what he’s just said. It’s made all the more maddening when we are rushed to our buses only to sit and wait for 30 minutes or more because nobody seems to know when Obama is actually on the move.

Maybe none of this means much. Maybe a front-running campaign like Obama’s that is focused solely on victory doesn’t have the time to do the mundane things like print up schedules or attend to the needs of reporters.

But in politics, everything that goes around comes around.

Comment by LookingForwardTo2012 | 2008-10-09 09:29:37

Maybe none of this means much.

It means something to me. McCain is more competent and more qualified to be the President of the United States of America.

 

Comment by AF catfish | 2008-10-09 10:48:54

Similar requests are often denied or ignored by the Obama campaign aides, apparently terrified that the candidate may have to wait 20 minutes to allow reporters to chronicle what he’s just said. It’s made all the more maddening when we are rushed to our buses only to sit and wait for 30 minutes or more because nobody seems to know when Obama is actually on the move.

You must not make the precious wait! This is what that “no drama” Obama is all about - don’t bother Obama. Let him do whatever he wants. Don’t ask him questions for you will make him irritable. Don’t expect him to show common courtesy to people who deserve it.

 
 

Comment by yttik | 2008-10-09 08:56:11

LOL, you go with the fancy coffee, Rev Amy! I have a whole espresso bar in my house. And a backup espresso stand on every block. I’m never giving up my addiction, never, I tell ya! Got coffee, life is good.

I’ve duked it out with right wingers for a long time. I know what their steriotype of a Leftie is. The problem is that Obama is like an exteme cartoon version of their worst fears. He is the boogeyman they’ve been hollering about. I can’t argue with them anymore, because the Dems took the integrity out of my debate. How can I tell them the liberal media myth is just BS, when we’ve got newscasters talking about having warm tingles up their leg for the Dem candidate?? How can I tell them that liberals don’t hate America, when the Dem candidate sat in church listening to God damn America? How can I tell them that Dems don’t hang out with terrorists, when this candidate did? How can I say he’s not a socialist, when he in fact once was a card carrying member? How can I say Dems just care about poor people and creating equality when all I’ve got to show them from this candidate is boarded up public housing in Chicago and a convicted developer? How can I tell them that fears of redistrubuting the wealth is just hysteria when this candidate is running around telling people that paying taxes is patriotic?

The unforgivable sin that Dems have committed in my opinion, is to sell out their integrity and give validity to every right wing argument ever made in the last two decades. It really sucks.

So, McCain/Palin 2008. It takes a Clinton to clean up after a Bush? Yes Hillary, but to make everything right in the world again, we need a Republican to clean up after a bad Republican administration. That’s karma, that’s what our mothers taught us. You make that bed, you lay in it.

Comment by Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy | 2008-10-09 09:57:26

“The unforgivable sin that Dems have committed in my opinion, is to sell out their integrity and give validity to every right wing argument ever made in the last two decades. It really sucks.”

Exactly. That’s the summation, isn’t it?

Sounds like we are birds of a feather with the coffee thing! :-D

 

Comment by Sue | 2008-10-09 11:12:11

I’m a Repub and I don’t dislike Dems. Disagree on certain issues? Sure. But, I greatly admire Bill and Hillary. Bill Clinton loves this country and cares for its people. I feel bad that he’s been pushed aside like he never mattered..all for a man who is nothing but a thug.

The Dems in charge today will decimate this country. I’m scared for all of us if Obama is elected.

 

Comment by rwc | 2008-10-09 11:49:17

The Dems and the liberal elite have shown the ordinary American they are comfortable with Obama and his friends. The fact that most Democrats and especially liberals are not bothered by Wright, Ayers, Khalidi only proves they are what the GOP has painted them to be – appeasers of racists, indifferent to terrorism and don’t see themselves as Americans.

Its made worse that many liberals came to the aid of Wright and agreed with his opinions of the U.S. only reinforces the worst perceptions of the liberal elite.

And there is a liberal media bias, just ask Obama who is benefiting from it. The thing is the MSM is full of white upper class liberals who are liberals only in the social issue arena. On economic issues they are identical to any GOPer. The fact is you’ll never hear some Ivy league educated liberal(is there any other kind) who gives a shit about Americans losing their jobs to China or being forced to train a foreign replacement who’ll make half of what they make.

As for Harvard Divinity School, its high time they shut it down. Because Amy’s description of it makes it to be just another multicultural, politically correct, Marxist cesspool. You wouldn’t want to be white, straight and even slightly theologically conservative at a place like that.

I shudder to think what they’d do to Emerson if he were alive today. It wouldn’t be pretty.

 
 

Comment by Andrew | 2008-10-09 08:57:04

I hear the polls are shifting, is it true?

Comment by AnninCA | 2008-10-09 09:19:03

A smidge…..Rasmussen is back to within 5 this morning.

 
 

Comment by cat | 2008-10-09 08:57:24

rev amy

if you get the ear of the media you could take Obama
down all by yourself!

Comment by Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy | 2008-10-09 10:17:09

Thanks, cat! Oh, and if only…

I appreciate the support!

 
 

Comment by jangles | 2008-10-09 09:04:08

Well I for one am ready to see what is going around come around. I hope BO press indifference might result in something more than continuous and unrelenting pandering.

 

Comment by hadenough | 2008-10-09 09:05:08

[youtube link worked after a reload]

I have to say, though, in full disclosure, that Professor West originally supported Hillary Clinton.

When was west a Hillary supporter?

June 28, 2007

AMY GOODMAN: When you say, Professor West, a critical supporter of Obama, what do you mean? Where do you think he hasn’t come out strong enough?

CORNEL WEST: Well, I’m in his camp, but I’m just—I put pressure—I think that he’s got to be more bold. I think that he’s got to be more courageous, in terms of highlighting issues of the poor, issues of working people, the legacies of white supremacy that are still very, very real.
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/6/28/renowned_princeton_professor_cornel_west_assesses

west said he was ‘in his camp’ as early as June 2007. west says he was a “a critical supporter of my dear Brother Obama” and that “Hillary Clinton has a long way to go, because she’s carrying a baggage, as it were, of the kind of neoliberalist — the neoliberal project of her husband.”

Comment by Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy | 2008-10-09 10:23:04

Thank you, hadenough - I stand corrected. Apparently, the information I read elsewhere was false. I will make this change right now!

Comment by hadenough | 2008-10-09 10:36:31

Thank you Reverend Amy. Your time and effort are much appreciated.

 
 
 

Comment by typewriterstreaming | 2008-10-09 09:07:12

Rev. Amy thank you for this excellent piece. The concerns you express in closing this piece should highlight the urgent need for all to push this and other articles like it to the media. While outstanding investigation has gone on to flush out the Real Barack Obama, we have got to find a way to push back and break down the forced veil of silence by the MSM. We all know we are running out of time. I urge everyone to circulate this and articles like it to all media outlets. It has been said there is force in numbers and we must not fail in forcing this issue into the public spotlight immediately. The average Amercian hasn’t a clue and they have a right to know who and what they are actually voting for by pulling that lever for Obama. I know numerous Democrats who absolutely refuse to believe information I share with them because it is not reported in their usual MSM news outlets. Shocking as that is, frustrating as that is, wrong as it is, that’s what we are up against. Let’s start a massive effort to get out the information now. Any and all thoughts about coordinating an effort are appreciated. Lets not waste the small amount of time left.

 

Comment by LookingForwardTo2012 | 2008-10-09 09:18:40

I was so disappointed, watching the 2 videos and reading the article about Cornell West. I don’t believe in anyone who espouses black liberation theology, as I understand the term, or Marxism or Socialism.

I have never been so shocked about race relations as I was after viewing tape from Trinity Church, Louis Farrakhan and other tapes specifically from the Black Leadership Conference. I thought that race relations in this country were good. I thought all races shared common interests (jobs, family) as well as a common problem, which would be gangs (of every race) and gang violence. I also believe that social injustice is a concern for all people. Imagine my surprise to hear the way many of the speakers and Wright and Farrakhan spoke of white people.

I’m certain that I have taken something away from your article that nobody else would. I guess it just reminded me of things I did not like about being in college in the 70’s…and things I worry about. My youngest is in college now. I am paying for him to learn the facts, in his chosen degree plan, not someone’s radical or conservative opinion. Perhaps my ignorance is showing. I am just from middle America, so what do I know???

 

Comment by glennmcgahee | 2008-10-09 09:23:08

The media impies that the election will be a landslide for Obama yet the polls actually show a dead heat. When the numbers are 4 or 5 points different, there’s a margin of error and that signifies a tie. But the talking heads still imply that Obama will win. I hope this keeps up as the voters will get complacent, especially the youth who will be busy on November 4th with their IPODs, etc and may not show up. Then we have the millions of new voters registered like the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. Yea, that’ll make all the difference. The biggest problem I see is the lax election strategy that allows people to register and vote at the same time in Ohio. How did this happen? Even the League of Women Voters cannot register people to vote here in Florida any longer because of our strict registration laws. They are non-partisan, yet ACORN is receiving government subsidies to tun in fake registrations all across the country. Prepare for even more ridiculous voter restrictions after this election cycle after all indictments that are sure to follow. Unfortunately, the 2008 election is too close to do anything about this now.

Comment by AnninCA | 2008-10-09 09:25:52

It’s the state polls that the Dems are excited about. And they are showing him pulling away.

In PA Rasmussen has him up by 13 points. *blech*

Comment by Andrew | 2008-10-09 09:29:35

Wasn’t he up 15 points a few days ago?

Comment by AnninCA | 2008-10-09 09:34:27

One still is that high.

 
 
 

Comment by Shiloh | 2008-10-09 09:30:30

The Obama strategy of using the complicit media to create an air of inevitability has slipped away. A few media polls will continue to be in the tank, but anyone talking now about an Obama landslide is a laughing stock. I’m in Ohio and too much is being made of this. In the first place only a few thousand dis the early registration/vote thing although Obama predicted 100,000. So what does that tell you? In addition, none of those votes can be counted until they are verified. The votes that finally get counted will be split about 50/50 anyway.

Obama is going to be taken apart piece by piece as Nov 4 get nearer. He has always been a fatally flawed candidate and he never had a prayer.

Comment by AnninCA | 2008-10-09 09:33:21

Rasmussen national poll is back to 5. Battleground, which I read was a very reliable poll, is within 3.

You’re correct. The race is tightening again.

Comment by Duras | 2008-10-09 12:28:30

We need to get the damn financial markets off the front page of the newspapers. If they’d just settle down, McCain might be able to claw his way back into it.

But as long as people are scared, they’re going to tend to vote against the incumbent party in the White House.

Frankly, given that Bush has a 28% approval rating, I’m amazed that McCain has been able to keep it as close as he has.

 
 
 
 

Comment by AnninCA | 2008-10-09 09:24:42

I think the next theme should be lying to the public. There are clips from all the debates, showing him using the same types of lies. Rezko (I only worked for him 4 or 5 hours.) Wright (I never heard those sermons.) Ayers (Just a guy in my neighborhood.)

THAT’S the pattern of deceit to the public that upsets me.

We deserve much better.

Comment by lark | 2008-10-09 09:57:30

AnninCA. Americans have been betrayed by their educational system. They have been schooled in the big. They were schooled in rejecting the small. We need to be educated now in reverse. To reject the big and to understand the small.

 

Comment by jbjd | 2008-10-09 10:22:55

Isn’t this progress that, previously, when we who have conducted our own research, cited these phrases uttered by BO, his minions - and others who hadn’t done the research - jumped up and demanded cites? But now, anyone sufficiently involved in the presidential campaign as to be reading this blog, knows these words by heart, and can recall where and when the lines were uttered, off the tops of their heads.

 
 

Comment by fif | 2008-10-09 09:26:07

Repeating a central argument of his book on the family, West contended that children did best when raised by two biological parents that were married to each other. The empirical evidence on this point was terribly clear.

That isn’t true is it? I thought psychological studies have shown that a child requires stability, consistency & nurturing, and ultimately if it’s done well, there are no differences in that child’s development and performance.

Comment by Kal | 2008-10-09 09:51:52

Correct. West relied on a small group of studies conducted by the extreme antiqueer marriage right for use by the extreme antiqueer marriage right in its vicious antiqueer marriage campaigns. Every element of that so-called ‘research’ is beyond not academically acceptable.

 
 

Comment by Puget Sound Island Girl | 2008-10-09 09:28:48

Rabble Rouser—-Man I wish I would have thought of such a cool name!

I love reading your posts Amy and I have you linked on my blog.

Anyway, I don’t care what Barrack Hussein Obama (no, I am not a racist) does NOW. He is doing anything and everything to get elected POTUS. I am sure he would kiss my feet to get me to vote for him. What concerns me is what he did in the past (his past actions, comments, connections—all of that).

BTW–Kissing my feet wouldn’t work. I can only see me voting for Obama on one of those reality shows!

Off the island you ass!

Comment by Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy | 2008-10-09 10:45:48

LOL - you are too funny, Puget Sound! And THANK YOU for linking to my blog on yours. I appreciate it!

Right there with ya - off the island he goes! Good one!

 
 

Comment by Fenelon spoke | 2008-10-09 09:29:29

Thanks, Amy-

As a minister and a Seminary grad I am familar with the writings of of Dr. West. We had to read some of them at the Seminary I attended.

I have some socialist leanings myself as I support Universal Health Care, and I too believe in the mandate of sharing the wealth.

One problem with Obama, however, is that none of his history has been made clear. He is a Socialist or Communist posing as a Liberal Democrat when it suits him and as a Moderate Democrat when it suits him. It’s the pattern of being very evasise which is part of the problem. The Obama camp meme is that if people will not elect him it’s because they are racist. Well, there are racists who won’t vote for him, but there are also are people who won’t vote for him for the reason you mentioned : They don’t really know who is and what he will be once he’s elected. I am voting for McCain not because I support everything he does, but because he’s been around so long that he’s a known quantity.
I simply don’t trust Obama, and I don’t think he has the a genuine desire to serve the country, but rather only himself and his agenda.

Thanks for a great post.

Comment by Shiloh | 2008-10-09 09:35:26

Find me this alleged person who isn’t voting for Obama because he is black but “would” vote for him if he were white. I don’t believe there is one, not one. It makes no sense. Republicans don’t care what color he is, they will never vote for him because he is a radical. So the people this charge of racism is being leveled against must logically be democrats. I think it’s pretty obvious who it is really aimed at - PUMAS.

Comment by kgirl1028 | 2008-10-09 09:55:39

That’s because their isn’t one. Don’t get me wrong, their are racist people out there but obama’s race is just a cherry on their lack of experienced, elitiest sack of shit, never done anything for anyone but himself, wants to send us into another great depression, has a bunch of crazy followers, hitler acting sundae. Trust me with all that gooy nutty goodness you don’t need the cherry but it helps give it the extra something.

 

Comment by Fenelon spoke | 2008-10-09 10:08:58

Hi, Shiloh_

I don’t know if you were addressing me, but I don’t know that there are lots of people who won’t be voting for Obama simply because he is black. That may be one of the reasons along with many others. I was just aware of the fact that htis concept has been pushed in the media and probably covertly by the Obama campaign-that if he loses racism is THE reason. I think it’s a deliberate tactic to play on white guilt. In addition, if the poll numbers are hyped and Obama loses he can incite his followers to take action. He might even claim voter fraud against him-isn’t that what he encouraged Odinga to do in Kenya?

Comment by McHope | 2008-10-09 10:49:45

The media continues to ignore the danger they pose in pushing this theme of racism. James Carville on CNN after the last debate was absolutely contributing to this theme once again. He exclaimed that if Obama is up by 5 and still loses in November, there will be a terrible situation, implying violence and riots should Obama lose. That kind of analysis is not helpful.
Why do this? To intimidate? To create headlines? What is the goal of widening the divide between races?

 

Comment by Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy | 2008-10-09 10:52:12

Fenelon -

I agree completely - the Obama camp is pushing this whole “anyone who doesn’t vote for Obama is a racist” and pushing it big time.

And a bit O/T, but now ACORN is claiming that the attempts to hold them accountable on voter registration is - wait for it - RACIST!!! There will be more posts on this topic - ACORN and voter registration. Stay tuned.

Thank you for your kind comments, Fenelon Spoke. Right there with ya on Universal Health Care and all. I wonder if you are getting crap for not supporting Obama from your colleagues? I had one attack me at my blog for not supporting The One. He went so far as to question if I am even a legitimate UU minister (I am). Wow. Just curious.

Comment by hilldemgoneindie | 2008-10-09 12:58:44

i wonder if the obama camp is counting on this…

i’m not voting for obama because… (wait for it)…

HE’S a racist!!

 

Comment by bemused | 2008-10-09 14:28:28

I’m beginning to believe there is an unseen epidemic of an undiagnosed mental condition, a form of paranoia where every negative feeling is construed as being due to appearance (ie race is basically appearance; how things are done, like food and holidays, is culture). Not completely joking. Certainly we notice people getting anorexic and too many teenagers considering plastic surgery as part of growing up. But these people saying this that and the other is racist are beginning to seem pretty loony if they think this is what is happening.

 
 
 
 

Comment by LookingForwardTo2012 | 2008-10-09 10:37:40

I wonder if you would take time to explain what you mean by your following statement, in your capacity as a Minister:

and I too believe in the mandate of sharing the wealth.

Would this not be exactly what we do when we pay our taxes, tithe to our Church, give to charities, volunteer at Food Banks and soup kitchens, donate coats and school supplies.

Would this not be what our employers do when they provide their employees with health insurance, vision care dental care, sick leave, vacation pay, retirement plans, matching 401k plans, pay for further education, provide scholarships for employees children?

I would also like to understand your definition of “mandate”.

Comment by Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy | 2008-10-09 11:04:30

To a degree, yes (and sorry folks - I usually try to respond to a bunch at once instead of jumping in here so much - my bad!). Just like that. Sharing what we can with others, working to end injustice, helping to raise people up, things of that nature.

Taxes are more complicated since a good portion of them go to running the government, military, defense, and all of that. A bit of a conflation, I think.

I would disagree that our EMPLOYERS are engaging in a “mandate” - most of the things you mentioned are compensation related more than “sharing the wealth.” There is a big difference between the two. For instance, if you get two weeks of paid vacation a year, you are simply getting what is already due you by your salary. Same with the health components - yes, it can be part of a package, but not everyone GETS that kind of package. It is a matter of recruitment and retention more than “charity.” That is to say, it is just good business because it helps to keep the employee happy. But it is not mandated.

That being said, there is an employer in my area (software) that encourages their employees to give back to the community. If the employees do x number of hours in community service, they are given extra vacation days. That is a big difference from the standard perks.

Does that help?

Comment by LookingForwardTo2012 | 2008-10-09 11:30:57

It helps explain, somewhat. However, the way I look at it is this…the more that corporations are taxed, the less money they will have to provide benefits to their employees.

When is enough, enough? Most of the people I know give and give, volunteer and volunteer, donate school supplies, coats, food. My family has scrimped, saved and worked since 1998 to pay cash (no grants available, no loans) to send our children to college. We didn’t want them to be saddled with loans. We still managed to do what we could to help others.

Mandate, to me, means an order to do something. I agree with voluntarily doing what we can to help others…

I always enjoy your articles! This one has been especially interesting.

 
 
 
 

Comment by Bill Dupray | 2008-10-09 09:36:39

NRA Ad Uses Hillary To Hammer Obama On Guns

http://patriotroom.com/?p=2909

 

Comment by Not Your sweetie | 2008-10-09 09:38:00

Comment by beebop | 2008-10-09 10:34:21

Are these people Democrats? Please tell me it isn’t so!!!!

 

Comment by Astra14 | 2008-10-09 10:38:10

This is getting to be too much. It really is. Obama brings out the worse in people soooo badly, that I don’t want to see him as President. I can see domestic abuse just skyrocket with him as president; race relations set back; the country divided worse than its ever been in years.
NOW is never going to get my support again! EVER.

 
 

Comment by HARP | 2008-10-09 09:42:56

WASHINGTON - The National Rifle Association is endorsing Republican presidential nominee John McCain despite differences with the Arizona senator on gun-show rules and campaign finance restrictions.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/30677534.html

Comment by Andrew | 2008-10-09 09:58:41

I hope this isn’t the big surprise the McCain camp was holding back on.

Comment by Galt, Master Thrall of Planet Triskelion | 2008-10-09 10:09:06

I have not seen anything directly from the campaign that a “big surprise” was coming. I only read a blog report that stated someone from the campaign told them. That being said the Ayers ad could be it. Its powerful and will put Opampers on the ropes for sure. Baracktoberfest is here!

 
 
 

Comment by lark | 2008-10-09 09:50:33

AnninCA. Americans need to understand the law of proportions.

American education have failed Americans.

Egyptians and Grecian and Romans and Arabs have build their empire on proportion. And in proportion, it just so happens that a small change, a small difference causes everything to fall into place and work.

Judaism and Europeans, Anglo Saxons do not operate in those terms. They operate in parameters, jumps, in big differences, in absolute terms.

Obama’s strategy is to blur the difference between him and McCain and to blur the difference between the DNC and RNC.

But just a small gap in the proportionality between one and the other makes them light and day apart and makes them contrast between life and death for the American traditional culture.

 

Comment by AnninCA | 2008-10-09 09:52:27

BTW, Amy…..I was back east and was floored by this business of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. omigosh….my poor brother had to drive all around so I could find my starbucks.

:)

Comment by LookingForwardTo2012 | 2008-10-09 10:06:36

Know you’re not talking to me, but…I love Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. Very smooth.

 
 

Comment by avwrobel | 2008-10-09 09:58:01

There’s a good article in today’s chicagotribune.com regarding ACORN’s election fraud activitie Hopefully some charges can be laid on those scumbags-for-Obambi pronto!

Comment by Firefly | 2008-10-09 10:06:15

Similarly, Fox News reporting this morning that Indianapolis, IN registrar says 105% of eligible voters in that city are now registered to vote. It’s a miracle!

Also, Fox News just said something about some of the people involved in voter fraud are now coming forward to tell their stories - no info about where or when but will keep an eye out for a report.

Comment by LookingForwardTo2012 | 2008-10-09 10:09:01

A miracle, indeed. What a mess to have to deal with. I don’t think any voter registration forms should be accepted from ACORN…ever.

Comment by beebop | 2008-10-09 10:37:37

I am totally with you on that. Starting with this election. And none of their leadership should EVER be involved in the electoral process again. It’s like letting a pedophile run a company that supplies help to day care centers. It is deplorable and shameful. Any connection to the Democratic party and these hooligans is an EMBARRASSMENT and each candidate relying on those hooligans should be EXPOSED AND HUMILIATED.

 
 
 
 

Comment by katmandu | 2008-10-09 09:59:17

Amy, how’s this for human rights concerns? Russian Jews trying to get out of Russia had relatives give letters to Senators Biden and Lugar. Here’s a Soviet report on what they did:

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/10/09/soviet-document-shows-biden-sold-out-human-rights-concerns/

The delegation did not officially raise the issue of human rights during the negotiations. Biden said they did not want ‘to spoil the atmosphere with problems which are bound to cause distrust in our relations.’ However, during the breaks between the sessions the senators passed to us several letters concerning these or those ‘refuseniks’. …

Unofficially, Biden and [Senator Richard] Lugar said that, in the end of the day, they were not so much concerned with having a problem of this or that citizen solved as with showing to the American public that they do care for ‘human rights’. They must prove to their voters that they are ‘effective in fulfilling their wishes’. In other words, the collocutors directly admitted that what is happening is a kind of a show, that they absolutely do not care for the fate of most so-called dissidents.

In the same conversation, Biden asked us to ensure that senators’ appeals on those issues are not left unanswered - even if we just reply that the letter is received but we cannot do anything.

Of course someone is going to have to verify that Russian report. Here’s what Morrissey says:

Does this document really reflect the record? Vadim V. Zagladin wrote it contemporaneous to the talks, and transmitted it as a highly classified document to the Kremlin. In fact, it’s still technically classified, but it escaped scrutiny during the initial collapse of the Soviet Union, and the two authors discovered it in Gorbachev’s library, where Zagladin works now. Bukovsky and Poilov point out that Zagladin would have been taking a risk in painting Biden and Lugar as sympathetic even to a small degree to Soviet concerns about dissidents. Soviet agents could certainly have used that information against both men later, and if the Soviets tried and found out Zagladin lied about it, his career would have come to an abrupt end in Siberia or some other equally unpleasant final destination.

Comment by katmandu | 2008-10-09 10:00:21

Excuse my messed up formatting, please.

 
 

Comment by Steven | 2008-10-09 10:00:02

ahhhh emmm ah a…this is not the Socialists of America I once knew…

Comment by imustprotest | 2008-10-09 10:08:37

they were just some Socialists of America in my neigborhood, my kids went to school with them.

 
 

Comment by HARP | 2008-10-09 10:05:31

Comment by LookingForwardTo2012 | 2008-10-09 10:11:22

 
 

Comment by kgirl1028 | 2008-10-09 10:11:33

Obama is antisocial anything he does is a calculation, I even think he married michelle, because it would appeal more to blacks that unlike many educated sucessful black men he is married toa black female. the part i don’t get about Michelle is that i don’t get off the evil vibe off her that i do from her husband. Don’t get me wrong she is a product of her Chicago Roots, but their is something about her, that says Obama presence has transferred her into who he needs to be rather than who she really is. Infact I think if she were not married to obama she would be more like Hillary Clinton white peoplephobic hillary Clinton but one all the same. infact there is something off about how she lives in a house, that she owns in part because her husband let small children and elderly black people freeze. what i’m trying to say is that i think Michelle has deep convictions, what ever they are she is not likely to go against it. i think she was obama’s first Koolaid Victum.

Comment by cat | 2008-10-09 10:37:30

kgirl
michelle “for the first time in my adult life I’m proud of my country” was a piece of work long before obama.
Read her Princeton thesis online.
She may have been friends with Bernadine Dohrn before
she met Obama.
If you don’t get a bad vibe from her your vibe-ometer
may need serious recalibration.

Comment by wodiej | 2008-10-09 10:39:56

AT THE VERY LEAST, THOSE TWO HAVE PISS POOR JUDGEMENT AND ARE NOT FIT TO LEAD ANYTHING!!

 
 

Comment by mimi | 2008-10-09 10:40:13

kgirl1028,

Yes, Michelle was calculation for 0bama. Even more, and I don’t expect whites to understand this, Michelle is the right skin tone. 0bama would not have done as well in the AA community had he married a woman who was like him, biracial, say, Halle Berry. He would have had a hard time even with an AA woman who looked like Vanessa Williams, too.

Michelle gave him the AA creds he needed. No mistaking her for anything but an AA. I think she was the perfect package for him, especially since her father was also a Precinct Captain for the Daley Machine. So her family was connected politically as it were.

Also, I think the demonization of Michelle as Lady Macbeth is incorrect. Make no mistake about it: 0bama is running the show. He’s been on the path to the presidency long before he ever met Michelle Robinson. She is doing his bidding. As far as her attitude is concerned, she is reflective of the mentality here in the AA community. It’s shocking to you whites, but sadly it’s true. There’s more of that than there isn’t. But, at the same time, she’s not an agressive leader. Nothing in her background has surfaced so far that she was ever leading or even belonging to radical groups. Spouting the Black Liberation rhetoric does not make you a leader. You can hear that on any street in an AA community. And these same people go to work and work side-by-side with white co-workers.

Michelle is as duped as the rest of the country. She’s being the good wife. And frankly, I don’t think it’s a goal of hers to be First Lady. In fact, I think it’s more of a burden to her and will be should the unthinkable happen.

She will go through the motions but she will not enjoy the ceremony that will be expected of her.

She’s not Hillary Clinton. She’s an AA housewife/mother who wants to live well, mansion, anyone? And wants her daughters to have a privileged lifestyle. Personally, I think she expected 0bama to be a successful lawyer.

People focus too much attention on her. She’s not pulling strings behind the scenes. I’m sure she’d be shocked at the idea that her husband could be on the downlow. And anything else politically sinister.

Comment by AnninCA | 2008-10-09 12:06:09

I tend to agree with you on that. She’s along for the ride, for sure. She’s not the ambitious one.

 
 
 

Comment by ainnj | 2008-10-09 10:12:49

I never really gave much thought to the down ticket democrats I had planned on voting for in November. I wasn’t voting for Obama/Biden but didn’t question the fact that I would vote for the down ticket D’s.
I am questioning that now.
A democratically controlled Congress…they have done a super duper job in the last 2 years, rubberstamping Bush on everything basically. Just imagine how strong willed they will be when Obama is perched in the oval office.
No, I am thinking very carefully about who I vote for downticket and if it continues to look like obama we cannot risk what a continuation of the pelosi/reid fiasco. Nope.

Comment by countryfirst_obamanever | 2008-10-09 11:07:17

I am voting straight Republican. If Obama and ACORN pull off mass voter fraud and he wins, I sure as hell don’t want that card carrying socialist to have a congress that will allow his socialist ideals to pass. Sorry, ain’t gonna happen.

 
 

Comment by John Smith | 2008-10-09 10:15:40

The Ayers story will not go away. This is something that got a lots of GOP folks scared and they will turn out in droves to vote against Obama. I just saw a clip of some people at the McCain rally in Ohio. You can tell that this sentiment will infect most of the state by the end of the weekend.

There is no way for Obama to really defend him self against this.

He can’t say that it was a mistake to hang out with Ayers because that would put his credibility on the line and lets face it that is all he has. Telling people he was lying about his relationship with Ayers will put into question anything he has ever stated.

He also can’t dismiss it because then it won’t go away.

What did the DNC think will happen when this guy goes up against the republicans. That they will not bring up Ayers. That they will just play nice and let the DNC walk all over them. Did they realize how furious the GOP is for being blamed for the financial meltdown.

The DNC could have chosen Hillary for POTUS and easily win this election. When the financial crises happened she had a good plan in place and would have assured the country that she will show leadership in time of crisis.

Now we have a guy who is being questioned about his past for which there are no good answers.

It is truly sad that the DNC we thought we knew had evaporated in front of our eyes.

Comment by Galt, Master Thrall of Planet Triskelion | 2008-10-09 10:19:37

I believe Hillary should have gone after Opampers early on about the real Opampers.

Comment by lark | 2008-10-09 10:31:08

Hillary’s book will sell at least 30 million copies.

 
 

Comment by AnninCA | 2008-10-09 12:07:34

Palin is doing a very good job. Apparently, *chuckling*, she’s whipping the crowds up so that they are now even turning on the mainstream press. I’m sorry, I know that’s not funny….except it is!

 
 

Comment by Galt, Master Thrall of Planet Triskelion | 2008-10-09 10:17:17

OT for blog authors. Check out latest posts of this blog. Not sure what to make of it. Nutshell of it is some are speculating Fitzgerald may have embarked on a RICO investigation relating to ACORN?

Comment by MAC TIME | 2008-10-09 10:24:19

WOW..send it to Fox News..heheheh Rico Act..ohhh yeah!!

 
 

Comment by doc99 | 2008-10-09 10:22:00

Roger L. Simon of PJM: Why the Press Hides Obama’s Lies.

There’s nothing wrong with being a socialist. I called myself one for the better part of twenty years. Millions of people have and many still do. But there is something very wrong with hiding who you are or who you were from the electorate—especially if you want to be President of the United States. Yet that seems to be a habit of Mr. Obama’s, with the collusion of the press. To my knowledge, no one in the mainstream media has begun to inquire into the details of Obama’s curiously unreported years at Columbia and Harvard, although much could be relatively easily ascertained. Obama himself has not been remotely forthcoming about them.

The inescapable conclusion is that Barack Obama is a highly deceptive, often dishonest individual. Again, many would say this is standard operating procedure for politicians in our culture (and most others too). But Obama presents himself as something different, a new kind of post-modern politician above the conventional dirty dealings of backroom politics.

Of course, by now that is something of a joke—yet the press is loath to admit it or to do much to balance the investigative reporting equation. They don’t even begin. What is the explanation for this? The most obvious reasons are bias and the desire to defeat the opposing candidate. But beneath these obvious explanations, I sense something more complex and pathological. Deeper fears are perhaps at play - the loss of self-image and personality disintegration, also a desperate need to conform to a fragile peer group. And in these times more than ever, a yet more potent terror – job loss.

Comment by lark | 2008-10-09 10:37:26

I agree with everything except you last sentence. I think it is the reverse. They do it in order to entrench and solidify their jobs.

You need to see those documentaries of all of our legendary news anchors like Cronkite et al and see how they rode the wave of fame and fortune for years and years.

Today, you have myriads of people in the news business from all four corners of the country and foreigners too, competing for the top of the wave of fame and fortune. Myriads. And I think the only way to ride the wave to its crescent is to be there toe to toe with the rest of them. Toe to toe with the rest.

 
 

Comment by ainnj | 2008-10-09 10:24:51

John,
“What did the DNC think will happen when this guy goes up against the republicans. That they will not bring up Ayers. That they will just play nice and let the DNC walk all over them. Did they realize how furious the GOP is for being blamed for the financial meltdown. ”

I don’t think McCain would have brought up Ayers if the financial meltdown hadn’t occurred when it did.
And while the financial meltdown was heartily welcomed by the Obama campaign, the resulting campaign strategy of McCain was just not expected.
I am not sure how well the Ayers thing will work for McCain against the backdrop of our economic disaster. It’s certainly a start with respect to obama’s questionable judgement, his character, probably but will the american people care enough about that in November given the state of their finances? Maybe. I think McCain needs more though to grab any undecided voters still remaining.
Maybe I was too close to the primary race to notice, but wasn’t all this info out there back then?
McCain needs more, let’s hope he gets it soon.

Comment by John Smith | 2008-10-09 17:51:50

The story on election day will be that there was a very low turnout for the democratic ticket. The fact that all the effort that Obama camp has put into voter turn out and only 28K voters voted in Ohio in a 5 day period speaks volumes about the support the democratic ticket has in Ohio. The polls can say what ever they want but if people don’t turn out it really makes no difference.

 
 

Comment by Galt, Master Thrall of Planet Triskelion | 2008-10-09 10:28:05

OT its being reported Obama wants Mac to say to his face the Ayers stuff. I am laughing my ass off as it is Opampers who has avoided doing townhalls and debates. What a hypocritical bastard.

Obama to McCain: Say It to My Face

Democrat accuses rival campaign of trying to ’score cheap political points’ by highlighting his association with Ayers

Is this the schoolyard sandbox, Opampers? Sure seems like it! And Opampers is the master at letting other people do his dirty work, like the false accusations of racism and the threat of race riots coming from his surrogates. Opampers we see who you are: a coward who hides behind other people.

Comment by Arabella Trefoil | 2008-10-09 10:30:29

He needs more nicotine patches.

 

Comment by beebop | 2008-10-09 10:43:17

What a grown up! What an example! What a mensch! NOT.

 

Comment by McHope | 2008-10-09 11:03:21

LOl. They began this ‘counter attack’ yesterday through Obama surrogates. How stupid? “It’s not true because you didn’t say it to my face.”
Truly laughable.

 
 

Comment by MAC TIME | 2008-10-09 10:34:43

Maybe when Corsi gets back and releases his damning evidence.. the final nail will be seated in this Farce!!!..Go John & Sarah!!!

 

Comment by sarainitaly | 2008-10-09 10:37:07

Wow! that was some day at the airport - Chili’s, Carville and Cornel!

All I usually get is a couple of magazines and a three hour delay. :O)

Great post. It is sad isn’t it, how all of this info is just not reported…

 

Comment by MG - PUMA | 2008-10-09 10:39:35

Link to see which celebrities are coming out for Obama including one recent photo of Oprah with Obama in Iowa.

http://www.seenon.com/celebrities/photo/election-savvy-looks-2008/

MG-PUMA (who plans on boycotting those celebs/films/ shows/music who support Obama. I no longer purchase anything to do with Oprah, including her magazine which was designed to compete with Martha Stewart - who actually went to prison as opposed to the idiots on Wall Street who got us into this mess, but that’s another issue. rant over, thanks for reading.)

Comment by wodiej | 2008-10-09 10:48:22

thanks, Shows you money does not buy brains and/or logic.

 

Comment by McHope | 2008-10-09 11:09:59

Martha Stewart expressed some support for Obama on her show. She was seriously worried because McCain doesn’t use email. She said this before the Obama ad was debunked by the knowledge that McCain does not type due to his war injuries.
These are the elite celebrities of our culture. Afraid..AFRAID that Sarah Palin may not believe in dinosaurs(Matt Damon ROFL)and overwhelmed if McCain doesn’t send email for Democrats to hack, I suppose.
Those in the immoral Hollywood culture are undeserving of the attention they recieve.

Comment by MG - PUMA | 2008-10-09 11:24:30

OK, thanks for that info :)

MG-PUMA

 
 
 

Comment by wodiej | 2008-10-09 10:43:10

I voted early in Indiana yesterday…STRAIGHT REPUBLICAN TICKET…I didn’t vote for a single Democrat. They are all supporting Obama and each other. They can stick it. What they did to Hillary Clinton is unexcuseable. If they would throw her under the bus, they would do it to anybody. No thanks.

Comment by MG - PUMA | 2008-10-09 10:47:36

Thank you for voting for the Mac! :)

MG-PUMA

 

Comment by AnninCA | 2008-10-09 12:10:14

I’m voting for Feinstein in CA, but no more Boxer. Feinstein supported Hillary well. Boxer….part of the crowd in WA whom I feel has become overly enmeshed with one another, corrupt, and a large part of the problem, not the solutions.

Comment by Duras | 2008-10-09 12:23:38

I agree. I can stomach Feinstein, but Boxer is a raving loon.

 
 
 

Comment by trails | 2008-10-09 10:43:30

The notion that Obama’s heart bleeds for any “oppressed” person is a joke. Don’t believe me? Just post a picture of Rezko’s posh residence in a northern Chicago suburb compared to the slum dwellings in South Chicago into which he packed and profited from Obama’s “people. ”

Remember, it was Rezko that Obama was feeding with Illinois tax dollars. Aid for the poor folk? Not so much. A little like all that federal money The One threw at the great U of Chicago, so it could keep Obama’s constituents from using its medical facilities. Power to the people? I thought not.

 

Comment by Paul3triple | 2008-10-09 10:45:23

Jkfriz, and the rest will try to diminish this. They cannot.
Obama has a history of radicalism. Going all the way back to his “uncle frank” who is frank marshall davis. A member of the communist party and obama’s admitted mentor until he was 20something.
Davis also wrote books with child porn.
How do we know obama is going to not have poeple like this in his admin? we don’t. That is the problem
Also, Obama is in no way a centrist. That is the biggest load of bull i ever heard.
Read Freddoso’s book that outlines his votes and career. Not his associations, his career as a senator. State and US.
Obama trained acorn. He he represented them and forced Citi Bank to loan them money that later they could not pay. He tryed to radicalize schools with Bill Ayers. He pork barreled money to Rezko for low-income housing that was a failure. Over and over. Yet, he still continued to funnel him money. Even after it was found that Rezko had not heat in Buildings in Obama’s district during the winter.
This is no centrist. Obama was also a member of SDS while at occidental in LA.
JK, why do you think he refuses to release or talk about his college years?
Wright,Phleager, Rezko, and Ayers. Nothing centrist about that. He also has earmarked money and fought for the causes these scoundrels espouse.
He is a radical. Odinga?
Why was Obama in Kenya campaigning for a man who was running on a platfor to institute Sharia Law if elected in a christian country?
Centrist? Oh please.
If you believe the lies they say then i feel very sorry for you. These are things that are proven concrete evidence and facts.
Wake up you idiot.

Defend Freedom.
Defeat Obama.

Do you want Rezko as HUD secretary? Ayers as education secretary? Wright as obama’s spiritual counsel? Odinga in the white house? The man who the news said urged his supporters to protest and lead to “the death of 10 christians a day”

That is the real Barrack Obama.
I know you guys who love him refuse to care about his life outside of the 2 years he has run for office. It matters. To suggest otherwise tells me your all for the New Obamunist world order.

 

Comment by Wiley | 2008-10-09 10:51:00

Here’s my hunch:

The web ad released today is just another piece to the bigger puzzle. McCain has more! The rabid response to the newest Ayers ad from the 0bama supporters (including the MSM) will turn on them.
When McCain drops the truly damning Ayers tie, not only will it bring voters into the McCain camp, it will completely discredit the MSM who just keeps repeating “nothing to see here folks, move along…

If I’m right (and I sure hope I am) the strategy is brilliant. Killing 0bama’s credibility and that of the MSM all at the same time!

 

Comment by Mountain Girl | 2008-10-09 10:55:34

I’m starting to think he is a communist.

Comment by bethtopaz | 2008-10-09 12:13:38

I think Barack Obama is a communist.

Well, he is sort of a muslim/communist/fascist.

A combination — anything works as long as he receives absolute power over the people - whom he carings nothing about.

 
 

Comment by BerlinBerlin | 2008-10-09 10:57:36

I just drove from Californis through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas (thats were I am now).
I just want to say this, all the people I met on the road just don’t look like they will potentially vote for BO.
Just a feeling.
Maybe the greyhound bus with some suburban or urban Blacks on board that stopped at the same fast food restaurant like we did.
That was the only people I saw the whole time who would be BO voters (maybe).
He will have to cheat big time to win.
There is a whole world between LA and NYC.
I just cannot imagine why the DNC has chosen him.
He can’t win.
And it will be blamed on racism.
Just why did they kick Hillary in the butt?
Do they hate the Clintons more than they want to win an election.
What about America?
We would have needed somebody like Hillary now.
(Guess I’m not over it)

Comment by Hillary or Bust | 2008-10-09 11:00:40

Well, I hope you are right because Politico has a huge headline about a potential “landslide” for Obama. @#$@!!

Comment by rwc | 2008-10-09 11:04:55

McCain has run a terrible campaign and has failed to reach out to the white working class in any meaningful way.

The last debate was dreadful, it was his chance to shine and instead he phoned it in.

Comment by AnninCA | 2008-10-09 12:14:05

I disagree. The debate was boring because Brokaw chose the same exact questions as were asked in the last debate.

It was a terrible format for both of them, frankly. Obama couldn’t shut up. Mac couldn’t operate in his true townhall fashion, which is very personable and witty. The crowd was told not to respond at all, so nobody could make a joke even.

It was just a very bad debate formula.

However, Mac calmed down his rhetoric, which upset the press and garnered him bad comments last time. (I thought he was great!) He absolutely beefed up his economic discussion points and came out ahead of Obama on that one. And he toned down his military, which actually sort of helps. (Nobody’s intered in Bin Laden right now. *haha)

 
 

Comment by BerlinBerlin | 2008-10-10 14:43:05

Well, I haven’t seen the debate since I was on the road.
But I feel a huge anti-Obama vote coming.
Landslide, yes, but not for BO.
Reality is that he does not connect to middle America.

 
 
 

Comment by BerlinBerlin | 2008-10-09 10:58:47

I just drove from California through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas (thats were I am now).
I just want to say this, all the people I met on the road just don’t look like they will potentially vote for BO.
Just a feeling.
Maybe the greyhound bus with some suburban or urban Blacks on board that stopped at the same fast food restaurant like we did.
That was the only people I saw the whole time who would be BO voters (maybe).
He will have to cheat big time to win.
There is a whole world between LA and NYC.
I just cannot imagine why the DNC has chosen him.
He can’t win.
And it will be blamed on racism.
Just why did they kick Hillary in the butt?
Do they hate the Clintons more than they want to win an election.
What about America?
We would have needed somebody like Hillary now.
(Guess I’m not over it)

 

Comment by BerlinBerlin | 2008-10-09 11:00:08

posted it accidenty two times, sorry!

 

Comment by Clinton Fan | 2008-10-09 11:03:39

This excellent article, Imagining Social Justice: Cornel West’s Prophectic Pubic Intellectualism, by Gary Darrien,

I am going to go back and actually READ this entire article, because it looks interesting, but that title mentioned in it discombobulated me a bit, until I realized it was a simple misspelling!!!

That would be PUBLIC Intellectualism….not PUBIC!!

Though we have plenty of people in and out of “public” life who think with their “pubic” region…..

Comment by Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy | 2008-10-09 11:30:46

Damn spellchecker! :-) Thanks, CF - just making sure everyone was awake this morning! Ahem…

Hey, SARAINITALY - you are too funny! Yes, it was quite the assortment there at the airport. My dad saw Janet Reno there one time. He was in awe of her, and she was quite gracious to him.

 
 

Comment by countryfirst_obamanever | 2008-10-09 11:08:16

On Fox now, Obama campaign admits to giving money to ACORN!

 

Comment by bayareavoter | 2008-10-09 11:24:22

Good post but I don’t know if people get it. They certainly don’t hear about it. I don’t think Obama has any core principles or values, though. He worships the god of Obama and whatever it takes to get ahead is where he goes.

I am in CA and saw a friend last week who said she’s been phone banking for Bambi. I asked her to give me ONE reason to vote for him or ONE reason he was qualified to be CIC.

Couldn’t do it! All she could do was tell me why HILLARY was flawed! I reminded her that Hillary is no longer in the race but this phone banker could not tell me why to vote for him! And when I told her tons of things I’ve learned here about the money he’s taken from Wall St and tons of other things she had never heard any of it.

Here in the SF Chronicle this morning the whole meme is that the subject of Ayers is actually racist…

Is anyone else tired of being called a racist yet? My teenage daughter has tons of friends who I drive all over town and who spend time here–they are white (like me), AA, Hispanic, Persian, Asian, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Atheist.

My daughter has become an outspoken McCain/Palin supporter in this VERY OBama county. I have a Nader sticker next to my PUMA sticker because I cannot be that overt. But I am really sick of being labeled racist because I can’t abide the man and the DNC that threw this election to him.

 

Comment by CountryFirst | 2008-10-09 11:55:16

So, Obama’s a socialist. What else is he?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8×9VQ5_Iqzk

I apologize if this has been posted before.

 

Comment by DianeJ | 2008-10-09 12:26:04

Interesting blog.

 

Comment by athy | 2008-10-09 12:37:52

RRRAmy-
Excellent article. Very informative.
I learned a lot! Thanks

 

Comment by Evgenia | 2008-10-09 12:57:45

Great article. A lot of people in their 20s have no idea what socialism or communism is about. To the knowledgeable few amongst the group, it is just an abstract theory, nothing else. In fact, it might even be considered deck to call themselves socialists now because Obama is being labeled as one by us.

Socialism in theory may be a great form of government to some, but it never works when put to practice. It always reverts to a grand pyramid scheme in which a wealthy, powerful class controls the masses. Obama and his friends would like to belong to that wealthy, powerful class. In other words, socialism for the masses and capitalism for the governing class. Give the poor people just enough (government rebate checks, supposed lower taxes to people who don’t pay taxes) to keep them dependent on the largesse of Dear Leader. That is, until people start to see the light and rebel, in which case the fascist hegemony rears its ugly head and, well you know the rest.

My family immigrated here from Russia and China because of these oppressive governments. Both sides of my family were either landowners or part of the intelligentsia, trust me when I say that socialists/ communists are not very nice people, and certainly not ones you’d want at the top of the pyramid.

Alas, as an aging thirtysomething hipster living in Sanctuary City/ Kool-Aid Central a.k.a San Francisco, I’ve got to blend in with denizens of this once great city. This Halloween, I am going to dress up as an Obama supporter by wearing old Komosol (Young Pioneer) uniform, while carrying a pitcher of Kool-Aid.

 

Comment by astro | 2008-10-09 13:20:50

Great post. I am a member of MCCNY, and many of our pastors are and have been Union graduates. And yes, we believe in sharing wealth as a means of “leveling the playing field,” which is perhaps the distinction between charity and a social justice impetus. And honestly, if I believed Obama was truly motivated by a desire to help others, I would likely be defending his socialism. But I don’t think he’s motivated by anything save ambition and ego. Social justice agendas have been notoriously abused by such proponents as him, who prefer to dictate and wring advantage out of another’s suffering rather than alleviate it.

 

Comment by hootnannie | 2008-10-09 13:23:03

The “fly-over” folks between LA and NY will not, by and large, vote for BO. The pollsters must be polling each other!
And, as for Cornel West, I think he’s a pompous, elitist, race-baiting, chip-on-the-shoulder product of Affirmative Action and white guilt who uses victimhood to get his way. He even claimed Harward picked on “the wrong Negro” when his unscholarly activities were criticized. Kinda like Bobo, aint he?

 

Comment by IndieDogg | 2008-10-09 13:36:51

Character Illumination is not Character Assassination.

Assassination usually connotes gunning down someone otherwise innocent.

Illumination is a means of shining a light into darkness. Or, in this case, peeling the protective facade off of someone not at all innocent.

Big difference.

Nobody in this crowd made BHO conceal his records (which he’s still concealing, by the way) or lie about his associations, or play politician (the successive layers of “well, then, would you believe this”) with emerging facts.

That’s not called character assassination. It’s called political suicide.

[A courtroom principle that BHO might have wanted to consider (but for his arrogance, he might have -- he has smart, savvy people around him): If there's something negative about your client, your client should be the one to bring it up. Otherwise, the fact doesn't become about the fact any more. It becomes about truthfulness. And, once you lose that battle, you're done. It will be argued, with justification, if your client will lie about one thing, they can't be believed about the rest.]

 

Comment by JP49 | 2008-10-09 15:32:02

Did anybody notice that cousin Odinga’s campaign slogan was ‘CHANGE’?

 

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