So Much For the Reality Based Community
By Larry Johnson on May 14, 2008 at 10:29 PM in Bamboozling, Barack Obama, Current Affairs, Louis Farrakhan, William Ayers
We have endured seven years of Republicans declaring “Mission Accomplished,” dismissing insurgents in Iraq as mere “dead-enders,” and declining to identify water-boarding as torture. So Democrats and Independents, rightly so, started taking pride in calling themselves, “the Reality Based” community. Well John Edwards put an end to that tonight with his endorsement of Barack Obama.
Here is the reality:
1. A significant portion of the Democratic establishment reject Hillary Clinton. It does not matter that she is a stronger candidate than Barack Obama. It does not matter that she has won more votes in states that have had votes. It does not matter that she has demonstrated she can win the key swing states Dems will need to carry to win the November election. And, it does not matter that Barack cannot win those states.
2. Barack’s loss in West Virginia is unprecedented in a presidential primary. A 47 point spread? Are you kidding me. That’s not even close. And what do the reality based Democratic leaders do? They scramble to do everything in their power to distract public attention from that fact and move on to other things like sending out John Edwards and Naral to endorse Barack. If Hillary had lost in West Virginia, Indiana, and Pennsylvania I could understand such endorsements. But she smoked Barack in West Virginia. And that encourages folks to endorse Barack?
3. Hillary will decisively win in Kentucky and will pull close in Oregon. She will win in Puerto Rico. South Dakota and Montana do not matter. They’ll vote Republican in November regardless. Whether Hillary or Barack wins in those states is totally irrelevant. So we will end the primary season with Hillary having won more votes. And what do the Democratic leaders want to do? Pretend that Barack won most of the votes.
4. Neither Barack nor Hillary can win the nomination without Super Delegate votes. If Super Delegates cast ballots based on the percentage of votes each candidate won in the states that have had primary votes than Hillary has garnered the majority. How about if Super Delegates votes according to who has the best chance of beating John Mccain? Well, Hillary wins that one as well. So what are the Supers doing? They are turning to Obama. So much for reality.
But Barack has problems and the problems will get worse. The media and the blogosphere are not going to sit on their hands the next three months. And the ammunition is plentiful. Barack himself resurrected Reverend Jeremiah Wright today. Sending out a ridiculous flier claiming he is a Christian who attends church simply begs the question–does he accept the theology of black supremacy preached and taught by Jeremiah Wright?
Barack’s contacts with Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam will be exposed. He will try to run but you cannot run away from this group. And Malik Shabazz and Louis Farrakhan are solidly in his corner. Commenting on Obama, Farrakhan said:
“What are you trying to do to our brother?… I love that brother. I want that brother to be successful… I have to be very careful in what I say… Where’s God in this? And why now?… What’s going on? Who is this young man?… This young man is the hope of the entire world.”
And listen to Farrakhan’s own words (doesn’t this guy understand the concept of video cameras?):
Barack’s ignorance of critical foreign policy issues will be exploited. His latest Obamaism claiming that “Arabic” translators are needed in Afghanistan is inexcusable for someone who wants to be Commander-in-Chief in the war on terror. The languages of Afghanistan are Pashto and Dari Persian. I guess this puts to bed, once and for all, the rumor that Obama is a secret muslim. Surely a true muslim would understand this nuance.
And then there is the allegation of closet homosexual activity. I do not know if these charges are true or not. But republican surrogates, with Drudge in the lead, are starting to circulate the allegations of Larry Sinclair and others claiming that Barack is on the “down low.” (Please note, I am not linking to any of these stories. I am focused on the fact that the matter is being aired.) These charges made FOX tonight and are being reported in the Globe. Folks standing in grocery lines perusing the tabloids are going to get an eyeful of this stuff. And do not think for a minute that sex don’t sell. Just ask Bill Clinton.
Barack’s dissembling on his relationship with the Reverend Wright and Bill Ayers has helped create an impression that he is covering up things from his past. I suspect he is hiding things other than sexual shenanigans but his tap dancing on the past has planted the seed of doubt. Some are asking, “what else is he lying about?” That will be one of the other story lines. Elites in the media and Democratic party circles will howl in rage and decry the “smear.” My point–regardless of the ground truth, the allegations will be repeated and replayed and Barack will ultimately have to address these in one fashion or another. I do not know how the debate over such allegations helps Barack build support in middle America.
Hillary needs to stay in the campaign till the end because by the time August rolls around the damage to Barack will be so significant that rational folks will realize he is unelectable notwithstanding the mess Republicans have made of things.
My advice? Patience. Let Barack have his codpiece, “Mission Accomplished” moment. Like George Bush, he will rue his strutting and preening and declaring premature victory. Reality will intrude.






















