Times have changed. I no longer worry so much global thermonuclear war. Other things have have taken its place. Global overpopulation leading to catastrophic ecological collapse seems like a far more likely possibility. An unstoppable, genetically modified virus tops the list. With computer controlled gene sequencing, that’s the global terror weapon of the near future. Unfortunately it doesn’t take access to hard-to-obtain fissionable materials or billion-dollar industrial-scale laboratories. It doesn’t even require a nation-state as a sponsor.

It would be far better if states like Iran and North Korea had no nukes. But we’ve got other threats to worry about that require closer attention.

Check, Please
By JAMES TARANTO
July 30, 2008

One of the most appealing features of the Barack Obama candidacy is the idea that Obama is “postracial”–that he is a candidate who is black and does not practice the adversarial politics of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. This is why his 20-year association with the racist anti-American crackpot Jeremiah Wright was potentially so damaging to him, and why Jesse Jackson’s lurid fantasies of sexually mutilating Obama were such a great stroke of luck for the candidate.

But a story in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin raises serious questions about Obama’s postracialism. The paper describes an Obama appearance at Unity ’08, “a convention of four minority journalism associations”:

“I personally would want to see our tragic history, or the tragic elements of our history, acknowledged,” the Democratic presidential hopeful said.

“I consistently believe that when it comes to whether it’s Native Americans or African-American issues or reparations, the most important thing for the U.S. government to do is not just offer words, but offer deeds.”

Exactly what Obama is advocating here cannot be determined, but it seems to be something of an endorsement of the idea of “reparations for slavery,” which is usually taken to mean cash payments. In this view, the following deeds are insufficient to balance the ledger between America and the descendants of slaves: the Civil War, the ratification of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the continuing practice of racial preferences.

The idea of reparations is highly unpopular, and with good reason. Unlike the Japanese-Americans who in 1988 received compensation for their internment by a Democratic administration in the grips of wartime hysteria, no one alive today has ever been a slave. The idea of the government cutting checks to compensate people for a wrong that they did not personally suffer is unlikely to appeal to anyone except perhaps those who stand to receive those checks.

The politics of this are rather odd. There is little for Obama to gain by endorsing reparations. If ever there was a candidate who has no need to pander to the descendants of slaves, it is Barack Obama. Democratic presidential candidates can usually count on upward of 90% of the black vote, and Obama racked up similar percentages in a hard-fought primary battle.

On the other hand, in order to attract votes among nonblacks, Obama needs to guard carefully his postracial credentials. It’s one thing to endorse racial preferences, a conventionally liberal if unpopular view. But reparations remains a fringe idea–the sort of idea a presidential nominee would normally be careful to stay away from.

The Star-Bulletin report also calls attention to an anomaly in the culture of American journalism:

When Obama walked on stage at the McCormick Center, many journalists in the audience leapt to their feet and applauded enthusiastically after being told not to do so. During a two-minute break halfway through the event, which was broadcast live on CNN, journalists ran to the stage to snap photos of Obama. . . .

Obama, who acknowledged that he needed a nap, stood up to say farewell to the audience of journalists, many of whom gave him another standing ovation.

Normally, journalists are expected to adopt a professional attitude of detachment. After 9/11, some journalists even criticized colleagues who wore American flag pins, which the former saw as an unacceptable display of nationalism. Yet few openly object to the notion that “minority” journalists–Unity is a coalition of the Asian American Journalists Association, the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Native American Journalists Association–are advocates on behalf of their racial or ethnic group. Would a politician get a standing ovation at a convention of the Society of Professional Journalists or some other nonethnic organization of journalists?

Is Jay Z gonna get tossed under, too? Obama’s campaign called Hillary a bitch using his “99 Problems” song at his “victory” party when he and Michelle strolled in.

I guess if so, he’d have to throw himself and his campaign under, too.

If your stats on the stock pile of ammo are true, then Hillary is our commander because she is ready to wipe them/IRAN off the map if they attack us or our allies and she must know that we have all we need to do it with in a matter of milli-seconds.

That is called being ready on day ONE!

That is called progressive-experience that is needed in the White House.

That is why Hillary Clinton must be President of the United States of America.

Obama is a slink-fink and failure.

Reality-Iran and the middle east conflicts are going to bite us in the ass and probably before the next president takes office.

They will attack when our country is divided like it is now and was in 2000 when they attacked on our own soil at the World Trade Centers.

This division is exactly what the enemy of the US wants. Obama is loving being the divisive figure and worshiped world wide.

DANGER DANGER DANGER is what Obama is…………..

What do you suppose would happen if Iran got a couple of shots off in our direction? What do you suppose would happen if we even suspected they were about to do this?

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/07/29/obama-vindicated.aspx

I think the various posts concerned with this issue deserve an update.