Dr. Lynette Long, the original host of “Sins of Omission,” has taken an extended sabbatical while she works on getting healthier and gets much-needed rest.

Paulie is especially interested in receiving your telephone calls. So, call (347) 677-0792 and ask Paulie a question or share your comments.

Please join us tonight for our guest, famed author Himilce Novas, who will discuss “debunking myths and prejudices about Latinos in the US and how to survive (and thrive) in a sexist world.”

As a human rights activist, Novas was a founding member of the National Organization for Women (NOW). She continues to work on behalf of women and those in the GBLT community. Novas was featured in the book, Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975
(2006). She is a member of Veteran Feminists of America.

Himilce Novas is the author of numerous works of fiction and non-fiction.
Her fiction includes Mangos, Bananas and Coconuts: A Cuban Love Story
(Arte Público Press, 1996; Riverhead / Penguin, 1997 paperback), and Princess Papaya (Arte Público Press, 2005). Among her works of non-fiction are the popular Everything You Need to Know About Latino History: 2008 Edition (Plume / Penguin 1994; 1997; 2003; 2008); Latin American Cooking Across the USA (Knopf, 1997); Buena Mesa (Knopf, 1997); Latino Art and Culture in the United States (The National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1996).

She has also written Everything You Need to Know about Asian American History (Plume / Penguin, 1996; 2003 ); The Hispanic 100: A Ranking of the Latino Men and Women Who Have Most Influenced American Thought and Culture (Citadel Press, 1995); and Remembering Selena: A Tribute in Pictures and Words / Recordando a Selena: Un tributo en palabras y fotos (St. Martin’s Press, 1995).

Novas has been a fiction editor of the MultiCultural Review for the past year and mostly reviews Latino and GLTB themed books. Novas has taught literature and writing as visiting author at various colleges and universities, among them the University of California at Santa Barbara, Wellesley College, Clark University and Tulane University, and continues to speak on Latino history and culture at colleges across the country. She spans both coasts and currently resides in the West.

The diversity of Himilce Novas’ accomplishments in the fields of Arts & Letters testify to the versatility and brilliance of her intellect. Born in Cuba to a Family of prominent intellectuals, she showed early signs of a promising writer when, still in high school, several of her poems were published by Nobel Prize laureate Camilo Jose Cela in his literary journal.

In her early teens, Novas moved to New York City, where several years later she translated her mastery of the word into a journalistic career as a newspaper and magazine editor/writer for such publications as Time/Life Books (Ancient China; Early Islam) The New York Times (articles and Sunday Supplements), Connoisseur (cover stories, articles) The C.S. Monitor (articles; special supplements) and L’Officiel/USA (editor-in-chief).

She quickly rose through the ranks of publishing. At the same time, she continued writing poems and other plays (some of which she acted in and directed). Among others, her play, Free This Day: A Trial In Seven Exhibits, was published by Joseph Papp in Scripts, a publication of The New York Shakespeare Theater and produced there and in avant garde theaters around the US and abroad, including Beijing, Tokyo, Rome, Madrid, Paris and Mexico City.”

Last week, Paulie hosted David Alinsky, the accomplished and fascinating son of renowned community organizer Saul Alinsky, who served as a role model for Barack Obama’s early community service work and influenced the operations of his presidential campaign.

Two weeks ago, Paulie hosted the famous, highly respected, educator and speaker, the Reverend Marcia Dyson. Rev. Dyson was a very active campaigner for Secretary Hillary Clinton during her presidential run.

If you missed Paula’s debut two weeks ago, you’ll definitely want to listen to the archived show, either at BlogTalkRadio.com or via iTunes (see our iTunes download and easy No Quarter Radio subscription directions in the farthest column to your right).

These were Paula’s two guests for the first part of her Monday night show on January 19, 2009:

Janet Margusity is the Director of Marketing for a children’s rehab hospital and long-term care facility in South Jersey. She has been an advocate for children with disabilities and their families for more than 20 years.

In 2004, she ran the South Jersey ‘Meet-Ups’ for John Kerry and in 2007 was part of New Jersey Women for Hillary. After Hillary conceded, Ms. Margusity joined the PUMA movement and became New Jersey State Coordinator for Real Democrats. She is currently working to ensure passage of Louisa’s law to protect battered women.

Media:
“Disaffected Democrats Oppose Obama” — Asbury Press, NJ
DayLife.com

Marilu Sochor has spent the last 20 years as co-owner of a real estate development company in the second largest growing county in the United States.

Ms. Sochor was actively involved in campaigning for Bill Clinton (1990 and 1994), Al Gore (2000), John Kerry (2004) and was an early and active supporter of Hillary Clinton–serving as Delaware (OH) County chair (2007). In 2008, she was the Chairman of ‘Citizens for McCain’ in Ohio. Ms. Sochor is the co-founder of Women for Fair Politics and Real Democrats.

Media:
YouTube
YouTube
Marilu also appeared on FoxNews in October 2008; that video is unavailable.

1)The NYPost talks about Joe the Plumber today. It calls Obama’s “economic plan” a wealth redistribution scheme.

Obama’s plan isn’t about sinking hooks into Wall Street CEOs and other fat cats, as he usually says. Fact is, there’s not enough of them to raise the cash necessary to finance his other grand plans.

No, to do that, he’ll have to go after ambitious working-class guys like Wurzelbacher – who’s been a plumber for 15 years and is looking to better himself and his family while just maybe creating a few jobs.
————–
Heretofore, Obama has sought to paint himself as a tax-cutter – claiming he’ll slash taxes for 95 percent of Americans.

As we noted yesterday, that’s a flat-out lie – not least because nearly half of all tax filers pay no income tax at all. So how can he “cut” their taxes if they don’t pay any to begin with?

Answer: tax “credits.”
To wit, in part:
* A $1,000 “make work pay” credit.
* A $4,000 college-tuition credit.
* A $6,000 child-care credit.
* A $1,100 bump in the earned-income tax credit.

These aren’t to be income-tax deductions – which would be worthless to those who pay no income taxes.

These are to be checks from Washington – with the subsidies expected to grow to more than $1 trillion in 10 years.

That’s a massive transfer of wealth.

How does Obama justify it?

“Fairness,” he says.

But that’s an absurdly radical view of what’s “fair.”

Read the rest ->

“Fair” has nothing to do with it. But, luckily or not, depending on how you look at it (gallows humor there), our economic situation may make this “plan” go the way of Obama’s principled stands on NAFTA, FISA, etc. etc.

2)Today’s IBD has an article about Iran and a potential natural gas cartel – featuring Iran and Russia – to function somewhat like OPEC. Except a forward thinking elected official is taking steps to nullify any effect of such a gas carte. Sarah Palin.

Energy: Iran resurrected its idea of a “gas cartel” to control gas markets like oil. But even if it succeeds, the U.S. won’t be vulnerable. If you wonder why, look to the governor of Alaska.

That’s right, Gov. Sarah Palin took a powerful preemptive step in August to shield the U.S. from a coming gas cartel. Palin’s effort to create the Trans-Canada Alaska gas line — which would provide a vast new trove of natural gas each day to the U.S. — effectively nullifies the emerging gas cartel’s potential impact on America.

If OPEC strikes you as a bad group, the new cartel for natural gas, led by Russia and Iran, will be even worse.

Russia has made standoffish statements about the plan, but won’t repudiate it. “A gas OPEC is an interesting idea,” then-President Vladimir Putin declared last year. Based on Russia’s moves since, the Heritage Foundation’s Ariel Cohen believes it’s a stealth move from the Kremlin to keep buyers unperturbed as the cartel slowly forms.

He’s right. This week in Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad quietly drew up the organization’s charter and will take it to Moscow next week.
—————–
. . . The market is changing fast. Global trade in liquified natural gas, or LNG, which requires no pipelines, will grow sharply. The U.S. will see a 58% increase in LNG imports in just two years, according to the Energy Department.

As the U.S. uses more natural gas, Iran’s Gas Exporting Countries Forum is taking off. Instead of the tough task of controlling prices right away, the group will first gain control of reserves through state firms in 14 countries, including hostile states such as Venezuela and Bolivia.

The next step will be “cooperative” ventures to strengthen the network. The final goal is to control production.

It’s nothing but a scheme to carve up monopoly spheres of influence that can tell customers whom they can buy from. That will kill competition and create incentives for meddling. Russia, which readily cuts off gas to neighbors over political disputes, has signaled that it will keep using gas as a political weapon.
—————–
As for U.S., already fairly self-sufficient in natural gas, we will be in a more solid position to defy the coercion. Palin’s pre-emptive step to foil Ahmadinejad’s scheme is in the Alaska gas line. In an Amazonian move, Palin effectively beat back the ambitious petrotyrants 10 years early with her $40 billion, 1,715-mile gas pipeline across Canada that will bring 4.5 trillion cubic feet of gas a day — nearly one-fifth projected needs — to the lower 48 within a decade.

Almost entirely off the news radar, Palin mowed down 30 years of legislative squabbling in the Alaska statehouse and then triumphantly signed off on the pipeline in August, stating her aim was energy independence.

“Alaska should be the leader of an energy policy that gets us there,” she told IBD over the summer.

————–

Her gas line shows . . . foresight, this time aimed at neutralizing enemies that will otherwise grow in strength. Palin’s pipeline will be a critical strike for energy security against petrotyrants intent on extending their influence. It will come online at precisely the moment the gas cartel could develop into a power.

This isn’t to say petrotyrants will go away, that the U.S. won’t be in the crossfire. U.S. self-sufficiency in natural gas will be roughly equivalent to Brazil’s in oil. The South American country which sees few problems from petrotyrants in the wake of its oil independence based on its willingness to drill. The U.S. likely will have the same strength in natural gas.

Energy security is a peculiar concept. Conventional wisdom holds that the U.S. has too few resources to bother drilling. But a nation need not have massive oil reserves for independence; all it needs are competitive alternatives — such as natural gas. Heading off the gas cartel is an important move, and Palin deserves recognition.

Palin’s foresight is a major contribution to U.S. energy security that will reverberate well beyond the election, no matter how it turns out.

In a couple of years when it is clear how the economic mess will fall out and whether or not the US works to change its energy use patterns, this pipeline will probably be one of very few examples of foresight. And hopefully I’ll be around to remind MSM idiots this is the official they said couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time. That’s our press – always fighting the last war.

3)The San Diego Union-Tribune has an op-ed saying Obama’s truthfulness should be questioned.

Any day now, I expect Barack Obama to call a news conference, wag his finger to the cameras, and announce with all the sincerity he can muster: “I did not have a substantive relationship with that Weatherman, Mr. Ayers.”

Of course, the way things are going, Obama may not have to lift a finger, let alone wag one. He might be able to run out the clock and avoid comment on continuing questions involving his involvement with a Hyde Park neighbor and unrepentant domestic terrorist, William Ayers.
————–

. . . here is what the voters should care about: Obama’s truthfulness, which is now in question. Over the last few months, we’ve learned that Obama and Ayers had more than just a “flimsy” relationship that included Ayers hosting a political gathering at his home for Obama when he was running for the Illinois Senate and the two serving together on various panels and boards. Ayers was also a founder of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a school-reform group. Obama served as chairman of its board from 1995 to ‘99, using the position to launch his political career.

Recently, Obama pulled back the curtain an inch. He told reporters that, during his association with Ayers, he had heard about the English professor’s radical past but assumed Ayers had been rehabilitated. Ayers’ ghoulish comments about not setting enough bombs suggest otherwise.

I put no stock in the politics of guilt by association. And even associating with ghouls should not hurt someone’s bid for the presidency. But lying about it is another story. It could be a warning of things to come.

Yeah. Kinda late, dude. Wish you had been there earlier. Then your op-ed might have been meaningful.

4)At the Boston Globe, another op-ed saying something quite similar. It begins by talking about other public figures who have been “guilty by association” such as Ronald Reagan (using the phrase “states’ rights” in MS). Then he goes here:

In none of these cases was there anything like the long relationship that Barack Obama had for so many years with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the incendiary, America-damning pastor he described for years as his mentor, his sounding board, and his friend. In none of them was there anything comparable to Obama’s significant involvement with William Ayers, the domestic-terrorist-turned-extremist-professor with whom Obama worked closely at the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, channeling more than $100 million into radical education projects.

Nor was anything in the Reagan, Bush, or Alito episodes akin to Obama’s highly profitable relationship with Tony Rezko, the crooked Chicago businessman and political fixer who was convicted in June on multiple counts of fraud, corrupt solicitation, and money laundering. In the course of their 17-year relationship, Rezko directed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Obama’s political war chests; he also facilitated the Obamas’ purchase of a $1.6 million mansion by agreeing to buy the adjoining lot from the same seller.
————

But it isn’t ridiculous to question the values of a candidate whose political career got its start in the Chicago living room of violent traitors like Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, who have never expressed remorse for the brutal crimes they committed in the Weather Underground. There is nothing unfair about wondering how Obama could have worshipped for 20 years in Wright’s church, yet never objected to the fanatic pastor’s virulent messages: that AIDS was created by the US government as an instrument of genocide, that America is the “US of KKKA,” that the 9/11 slaughter was “America’s chickens coming home to roost.”

Guilt by association? Not when the associations have such deep roots or raise such troubling questions about Obama’s character and judgment. It was only in the heat of a presidential campaign that Obama finally repudiated his alliances with Ayers, Wright, and Rezko. It isn’t irresponsible to ask what those associations tell us about a man poised to be the next president of the United States. It would be irresponsible not to.

What two of these editorials now? Think some MSM are issuing these “just in case” or what? Yeah, thanks for this insight dude. Should have been around, what, oh – months ago.

5)Fox had a roundtable on the John Lewis spew and how race-baiting has worked this election cycle. Charles Krauthammer explained how it works – just as we’ve been talking about here at NQ all along.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: When John McCain runs an ad with a white woman, Paris Hilton in it, he is accused of racism. He runs an ad with Franklin Raines, the former head of Fannie Mae in it, who is African-American, and that’s racist. And then he runs an ad with William Ayers, who is a white male in it, and that’s racist.

If it weren’t so comical, these promiscuous accusations of racism, it would be tragic.

The Obama campaign has been playing the race card over and over again. Look, this is a campaign that in the primaries succeeded in painting Bill Clinton as a racist.

Now, Clinton, with all of his flaws, this is a man who throughout his career from Governor of Arkansas to president of the United States and beyond, has been a great and sincere friend of African-Americans who shared and tried to advance their aspirations. So if you can pull off a trick like that on Bill Clinton, you can pull it off on Republicans.

And look what Obama has said. He’s the one who raised the Barack Hussein Obama a year or two ago in which he said the Hussein is actually an asset and would be an asset in dealing with Muslims abroad.

He’s the one who openly said that the Republicans will say I’m black, they will say he’s scary. They will say he’s different. They will say he doesn’t look like the guy on the dollar bill.

That is Obama preemptively accusing McCain of racism, which is a scurrilous charge. Racism is a serious charge in our country, and a false accusation is doubly serious. As we saw in the Duke lacrosse case, it can destroy lives. Given our history, it ought to be used with great care.

And to accuse preemptively McCain of racism even before there is any evidence of it, and there has not been any evidence of it before or since, is scurrilous.
They say patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. Accusations of racism is the last refuge of the liberal scoundrel, and it has been used again and again on the part of the Obama campaign.

You’ve got to admit, it’s been a neat trick to race-bait an entire race from start to finish AND get away with it too. Of course, Jesse Jackson already warned that electing an “AA” president (Obama’s not REALLY AA – he’s white, African and Arab) won’t come close to shutting down the “race question.” So sorry if you think this will show that America has “come a long way.” I think the Obama campaign just naturally assumed race would be his “problem” because, you know, ALL WHITE PEOPLE ARE RACIST and so they devised a way to make it “work for him.” Cynical and not at all hopey changey. Think this will continue into an Obama admin? Stay tuned. I kind of think not.

6)Commentary has an opinion piece that reminds us of what we used to say about “questionable associations” before it became a racist thing if used to question Obama. “If you lie down with dogs, you’re going to get fleas.”

Still, in our wiser moments, we have always understood that character, broadly defined, is important to possess for those in high public office, in part because it tells us whether our leaders warrant our trust, whether their word is dependable, and whether they are responsible. And one of the best indicators of character is the people with whom you associate. This is basic, elementary-school level common sense. The odds are your parents wanted you to hang around with the “right” crowd instead of the wrong crowd because if you hung around with the latter it meant its members would be a bad influence on you, it would reflect poorly on you, and you’d probably end up getting into trouble.

What applies to 10-year-olds also applies to presidential candidates.
Over the years, Barack Obama hung around with some pretty disturbing characters, and what we’re talking about aren’t isolated incidents. It has happened with a slew of people on a range of issues. He has connected himself with domestic terrorists (William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn), with an anti-American and racist minister (Jeremiah Wright), and with corrupt people (Antoin “Tony” Rezko) and organizations (ACORN). What we see, then, is a pattern.
—————-

For those who say that these associations don’t matter, that they’re “distractions” from the more urgent problems of our time and an example of “Swift-boating,” consider this: if John McCain had sat in the pew of a pastor who was a white supremacist and launched his political career at the home of, and developed a working relationship with, a man who bombed abortion clinics or black churches and, for good measure, was unrepentant about it, McCain’s political career would be (rightly) over, and he would be (rightly) ostracized.

A political reference point may be helpful here. Senator Trent Lott was hounded out of his post as Majority Leader because of a few inappropriate comments — made in bad taste but in jest — at Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday party. Much of the media and the political class were outraged. Yet we have a case in which Obama has had close, intimate relations with some really unsavory folks, and we’re told it doesn’t matter one bit.

This is the crux of the “associations” argument. Obama has, throughout his life, chosen to work with, pal around with and otherwise promote and be promoted by people whose background is unsavory at best. And this pattern of behavior is not apparently relevant to people. That says a lot about him as a person, but it says more about his supporters. The bar has been lowered for him.

7)And lastly today, don’t expect to see THIS story anywhere but here today.

The agent in charge of the Secret Service field office in Scranton said allegations that someone yelled “kill him” when presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s name was mentioned during Tuesday’s Sarah Palin rally are unfounded.

The Scranton Times-Tribune first reported the alleged incident on its Web site Tuesday and then again in its print edition Wednesday. The first story, written by reporter David Singleton, appeared with allegations that while congressional candidate Chris Hackett was addressing the crowd and mentioned Oabama’s name a man in the audience shouted “kill him.”

News organizations including ABC, The Associated Press, The Washington Monthly and MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann reported the claim, with most attributing the allegations to the Times-Tribune story.

Agent Bill Slavoski said he was in the audience, along with an undisclosed number of additional secret service agents and other law enforcement officers and not one heard the comment.
————
He said the agency conducted an investigation Wednesday, after seeing the story, and could not find one person to corroborate the allegation other than Singleton

So, a reporter claims he heard someone in the crowd say this. The Secret Service, no slouches when it comes to protecting US Presidents and wanna-bes, conducts an investigation and finds nada, zip, zero and nothing at all.

But the reporter “stands by his story.” Yep. That’s our media these days. And don’t look for any retractions or revisions from the national lapdogs either. Think that “reporter” was Jayson Blair?

Here’s the Obama’s radio ad in Spanish. Here’s the transcript in English:

Some people have power and connections.

But most of us have to make our own way through life.

This is true even for the man who could become the next President … Barack Obama.

He grew up without a father – raised by his mother with the support of his grandparents.

Obama never forgot his roots ….

He worked with churches to help families get job training and after-school care for their children.

In the State Senate, he passed a law that helped reduce the welfare roles by over 80% by helping families to secure jobs.

And despite the political pressure, Obama has stood with us for immigration reform and spoke out for our veterans.

It’s time we had a President who understands we all deserve a chance to make our own way.

Last week, the Pew Hispanic Center survey found that among Hispanics Obama led McCain by more than a two to one margin with 66% to McCain’s 23%. It’s a surprising turnaround for Obama who fared poorly among Hispanics during the primaries. More from the Dallas Morning News.

Barack Obama has picked up support from nearly all the Hispanic voters who voted for rival Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries, giving him a nearly three-to-one lead over Republican John McCain among Hispanics, a poll released Thursday shows.

The Pew Hispanic Center survey found Obama with 66 percent of the Hispanic vote to McCain’s 23 percent.

The results represent a “sharp reversal” in Obama’s fortunes from the primaries, when he lost the Latino vote to Clinton by nearly two-to-one, prompting speculation that Hispanics were leery of voting for a black candidate, said Susan Minushkin, the center’s deputy director.

Instead, the survey found that three times as many respondents said that being black would help Obama with Latino voters. A majority – 53 percent – said his race would make no difference to Latino voters.

More than 76 percent of Hispanics who said they voted for Clinton now say they’re leaning toward voting for Obama, while just 8 percent said they were leaning toward McCain.

The poll by the nonpartisan research organization is based on a telephone survey of 2,015 Hispanics, 892 of whom were registered voters. Interviews in either English or Spanish were conducted June 9 through July 13. The survey carries a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.

The poll comes as both campaigns seek to woo Hispanic voters. McCain has been advertising for six weeks on Spanish radio in Florida, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, four battleground states with sizeable Hispanic populations. Obama’s campaign Wednesday unveiled its first Spanish-language ad in Florida.

Both candidates also have appeared before Hispanic groups to pledge support for a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. But McCain has faced a steep climb: Critics have accused him of softening his support for his own immigration legislation during the GOP primaries, when his support for immigration reform threatened to derail his candidacy.

The poll suggests that the GOP brand is sinking with Latinos, even as it suggests that immigration isn’t a driving factor for the Hispanic electorate.

Perhaps most troubling for the GOP, the center said it found that since 2006 Latino voters have moved “sharply” into the Democratic column, “reversing a pro-GOP tide that had been evident among Latinos earlier in the decade.”

“More than half all Latino voters say that Obama is better for Hispanics,” Minushkin said.

According to the poll, 65 percent of Latino registered voters now say they identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, compared with 26 percent who identify or lean toward the Republican Party.

The center said the shift “appears driven in part by an overall dissatisfaction with the state of the country – 70 percent of Latino registered voters say the country is going in the wrong direction.”

According to the poll, top issues were education, the cost of living, jobs and health care. Fewer Hispanics rated crime, the war in Iraq or immigration as priorities.

My sense is that it is economic issues that is driving the Hispanic vote. There is even a chance that McCain may have to defend Arizona which has the nation’s fastest growing Hispanic population averaging 12% over the past decade. Hispanics now constitute about a fifth of Arizonans. The question is how many are citizens and how many vote.

From my blog, By The Fault.

It’s…It’s…embarrassing when.. when …uh… [sic] Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe and [snicker] all we can say is Merci beaucoup.

What an insulting Asshat™ this guy is. Worse yet, to use an American expression: He should talk! He struggled with the language of a country he was living in and he has the Audacity and Arrogance™ to snort at others in America for being unable to speak other languages while simply visiting other countries.

Obama has claimed on numerous occasions to have become fluent in Indonesian in six months. Yet those who knew him disputed that during recent interviews.

Israella Pareira Darmawan, Obama’s 1st-grade teacher, said she attempted to help him learn the Indonesian language by going over pronunciation and vowel sounds. He struggled greatly with the foreign language, she said, and with his studies as a result.

As far as I can see, Comrade Obama is only capable of saying one phrase in other languages: Yes We Can. Even with that one line, his Spanish was atrocious, so I would like to know how it is that he thinks he can continually make fun of the country he wants to be President of and get away with it? Comrade, who were you referring to? Those “bitter hicks” with guns who work from sun-up to sun-down to provide you with your Whole Foods selection? Are you referring to those “downscale” voters who are too busy to learn other languages because they are working two jobs just to make ends meet–while they serve arrogant snotty asses like you?

Comrade, did it ever occur to Arrogant Asshat You that you insulted Hispanic Americans in this country who are struggling with our most difficult language that has an exception to nearly every grammar rule? Of course not! You are far too arrogant and self-impressed for that!

Speaking of languages of countries you visit without speaking their language: I also understand that Barack Obama plans on holding fundraisers in China. I am not surprised, considering he seems to be the darling of Socialists, Communists, Marxists, Maoists, Theocracies and lovers of Lenin and Stalin the World Over. The thing is, many Americans live in China. This is because China has stolen so many of our jobs. I would think that as a so-called Democrat, Obama would be more concerned with bringing these folks and their jobs back to America, but true to what he is, he is more concerned with getting their money.

I also understand that the Comrade has a half brother in China, named Mark. His father sure did get around, having left kids everywhere, it seems. This must be where he inherited his “respect” for women. Perhaps his brother will be helping him raise funds and set him up to talk to some Government Leaders there to get tips on how to run America. More importantly, I was wondering if Obama plans to pay a visit to China, and if so, will he be speaking Chinese?

Come to think of it, the only relative he has in the USA where he wants to Reign Supreme is his Typical White Grandmother, and he tossed her under the bus months ago. While Barack Obama enjoys pretending to be as great and as American as JFK, I can tell you for certain that when the truly great JFK was President, you could find all of his family in Hyannisport very easily on any given weekend. Nobody was hidden and JFK was proud to pubilicly speak of them and name them. Why is it, Barack Obama never speaks of the relatives he has all over the world? Why is it we have to go hunting for them? When he visits them in their respective countries, does he speak their language or does he speak English? This seems to be a fair question, don’t you think?

If Barack Obama thinks everyone else in America who doesn’t speak the language when he or she visits another country is worth snickering at, then should he not be able to speak the language of every place he has visited? For example, I know that Barack Obama has visited one of his favorite places where some of his biggest fundraisers are citizens: Pakistan. I was wondering, does Barack Obama speak their language?

Barack Obama has a stick up his ass and the most amusing part of that is he has no right to have a stick up his ass. He is a mediocre man with minimal achievements, the greatest of them is his great success at working the Chicago Thug Political Machine and sticking his nose in the air, pretending he is above everybody and everything.

He is so without substance of his own, that he spends most of his time pretending he is the equal to great men such as RFK, JFK, MLK, FDR and Lincoln. Yet, he parades himself as Above The Rest – ad nauseum.

I wonder exactly how many more Americans he insulted by laughing at America again–this time for speaking only one language: The language of the country in which he is running for President.

While this Out of Touch Snot is busy telling everyone in America to go learn another language, Somebody also needs to explain to Comrade Obama that, in spite of his attitude that the country he wants to become Czar of is inferior to the places he really loves–such as the Middle East, English is the preferred language of business communication World-Wide.

While it certainly does open doors for people to learn other languages, Comrade Obama might be more helpful to the USA if he chastises many of his own young followers for their own communication problems with the English language. In fact, back when I could stand to listen to him, I heard The Comrade Himself butcher the use of verbs with respect to singular and plural. So, comrade, try telling your worshippers to focus on their own language first before shipping them off to butcher another country’s language. Thanks!

Having spent a fair amount of my life in Academia before moving to the Real World, I get the sense that Obama needs to permanently assign himself to the Faculty Lounge instead of running for President of The United States. His arrogance and snottiness with respect to the Real World is simply staggering. He is so snotty, he can’t even help himself. Insults just roll right off his tongue.

Comrade, we are truly sorry that so many Stupid Americans just don’t speak French and German. We all know that you are classy and we are not.

It’s a wonder you put up with this country at all, you are just too damned superior for us! Let us Worship You for that.

Say! I have an idea! Comrade Obama! We are sorry our country “embarrasses” you so much! This might come as a huge surprise to Snotty You, but you embarrass plenty of us as well! Perhaps you would be more comfortable running for President of France. I know many of us here in America would be more comfortable with that thought. For sure, you would hear millions of us say, Merci Beaucoup.

By the way, speaking of embarrassing: It’s embarrassing to listen to a Presidential Candidate act like a snob when he can’t even put two sentences together sans teleprompter without saying “uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh………ahhhhhhhhhhh” every sixty seconds. Just saying!

So tell us, Comrade, do you speak French and German? Just wondering. If not, get on it, Mr. Lead-By-Example! Merci Beaucoup!

The Congress-watcher news magazine The Hill writes this week that:

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) must commit to helping illegal immigrants achieve citizenship or else risk losing the vital Latino vote in the general election, Hispanic Democratic lawmakers are warning.

If he does not promise so-called comprehensive immigration reform, the lawmakers say, the only other way to win over Hispanic supporters of his erstwhile rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), may be to pick her as his running mate.

While I think that’s true, the problem for Obama with Hispanics goes deeper than that and again it comes to down those pesky values which I keep on referencing. That Obama is likely to carry the Hispanic vote I do not doubt. It is the narrower margin by which he will do so that should give the Democratic leadership pause.

Here’s the crux of Obama’s problema muy grande:

While Obama won the Latino vote in his home state of Illinois and in Colorado, and stayed competitive in New Mexico and Arizona, he was walloped among Latinos ? 64 percent to 24 ? throughout the 24 contests making up Super Tuesday. In California, Clinton won over Latinos 67 percent to 29.

Latino voters comprised 30 percent of California Democratic primary voters, an increase of 17 percent from 2004. In Texas, the number of Latinos voting in the Democratic primary rose 8 percent, to 32 percent of the electorate, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

In the Florida Republican primary, where Latinos made up 12 percent of the total vote and where McCain edged out Romney by only 4 percentage points, the Arizona senator won 54 percent of the Latino vote compared to Romney?s 14 percent. And many Republicans remember that it was in 2004 when 40 percent of Latino voters abandoned the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), to vote for President Bush, Munoz said.

Here is an overview of the states with the largest Hispanic population in the United States. Some of these are firmly in the McCain camp, others firmly in the Obama camp but a few are swing states. The swing states with large Hispanic populations are Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Arizona
Arizona’s Hispanic population is the sixth-largest in the nation. Nearly 1.8 million Hispanics reside in Arizona, 4% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 673,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Arizona, 4% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters. McCain wins his home state.

California
California’s Hispanic population is the largest of any state in the nation. More than 13 million Hispanics reside in California, 30% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are over 5 million eligible Hispanic voters in California, 28% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters. Polls right now are trending Obama’s way in California. Still most Hispanics here in the state have yet to focus on Obama. In the California primary, all they needed to know was that Hillary Clinton was Bill’s wife and that she was on the ballot. That may provide an opportunity for McCain to tag Obama as being out of touch with Hispanic values and Hispanics in California in a recent Field Poll had a 65% favourable view of McCain. Again his stance on immigration helps. Still I doubt McCain will win a plurality of Hispanic voters in California but he doesn’t have to, he only has to eat into the margin to make California competitive.

Colorado
Colorado’s Hispanic population is eighth-largest in the nation. More than 927,000 Hispanics reside in Colorado, 2% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are over 404,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Colorado, 2% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters. Obama is aiming to make a push in Colorado. He’s likely to find support in the Denver to Boulder corridor and in liberal Aspen. Elsewhere, it looks like McCain country. Thus, the Hispanic vote should be a significant factor in Colorado come November. It is one of the swing demographics in Colorado.

District of Columbia
The District of Columbia’s Hispanic population is the 42nd largest in the nation. More than 47,000 Hispanics reside in the district, less than 0.1% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 16,000 eligible Hispanic voters in the district, less than 0.1% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters. Still, it is the African-American vote that matters in DC, not Hispanics.

Florida
Hispanic voters registered as Democrats have overtaken Hispanic Republicans in Florida, signaling a trend that, if it continues, could have far-reaching implications for the 2008 election and U.S. foreign policy. Until now, the politically influential, mostly Republican Cuban-American community in Miami-Dade made Florida the only state in the country where, among Hispanics, Republicans outnumbered Democrats. The growth among Hispanic Democrats is striking. Since January 2006, when the state began identifying voters as Hispanic, Democratic registration has increased 18 percent. Hispanic Republicans grew by only 2 percent, while those choosing neither party are up 14 percent. Florida has a larger South American population than other US states. Cubans, Haitian and Colombians make up the largest communities but there are growing numbers of Venezuelans and Brazilians. Cubans, Colombians and Venezuelans may be put off by Obama’s embrace, erstwhile at times, of Hugo Chávez. Free trade is also a big issue and Obama is against it and that issue won’t sit well with Latin Americans who want to see closer economic ties between the United States and their respective homelands. Many Latin Americans in the United States actually are engaged in jobs that depend on a vibrant trade with Latin America.

Hawaii
Hawaii’s Hispanic population is the 38th largest in the nation. Approximately 100,000 Hispanics reside in Hawaii, less than 1% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 60,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Hawaii, less than 1% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters. Hawaii is Obama country, he should win with ease.

Illinois
Illinois’s Hispanic population is the fifth-largest in the nation. Nearly 1.9 million Hispanics reside in Illinois, 4% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are over 708,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Illinois, 4% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters.

Maryland
Maryland’s Hispanic population is the 20th largest in the nation. More than 341,000 Hispanics reside in Maryland, 1% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 112,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Maryland, less than 1% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters.

Massachusetts
Massachusetts’s Hispanic population is the fifteenth-largest in the nation. More than 509,000 Hispanics reside in Massachusetts, 1% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 246,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Massachusetts, 1% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters.

Nevada
In Nevada, Latinos make up about 20% of the population. Hispanics make up 12% of Nevada’s eligible voters, compared with 9 percent of eligible voters nationally. The concerns on the minds of Nevada’s Hispanic voters are the same issues that the rest of the nation faces, said Luis Valera, with the Latin Chamber of Commerce of Las Vegas.

“Those folks are worried about their jobs. They’re worried about the economy. They’re worried about the health of the tourism industry. They’re worried about making sure that their kids get a good education,” he said. Where Hispanics might differ, however, is on the issue of immigration, Valera said.

“The Hispanic community is going to be a little more sensitive to the immigration issue, more so than other communities,” he said.

I also think that Hispanics, who are rather complex in their political views, will view Obama with suspicion. They do tend to favour social welfare programmes but they also espouse traditional conservative Catholic values. And there is a growing number of evangelical Hispanics who are largely citizens because their pastors are very pro-active in assisting their flock in becoming US citizens. And they vote on issues where Obama stands not a chance.

New Jersey
New Jersey’s Hispanic population is the seventh-largest in the nation. More than 1.4 million Hispanics reside in New Jersey, 3% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 588,000 eligible Hispanic voters in New Jersey, 3% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters. This may be the state where the Hispanic vote has the biggest impact. If McCain can capture 45% of the Hispanic vote in New Jersey, he will in all likelihood take this blue state red. New Jersey has a large Cuban and Colombian populations. While the Cuban population votes more GOP, the Colombian population hasn’t. But Colombians have their feet in both the United States and in Colombia. Colombian-Americans were less than thrilled with Obama’s comments in neighboring Pennsylvania on the Colombian FTA and on Alvaro Uribe. So outraged were the Colombians that the Colombian government sent the first diplomatic protest note in four years to State Department complaining about Senator Obama’s remarks and demanding respect for the Colombian President. Obama’s comments implied that the Colombian government was complicit in the assassination of trade unionist and of course, he got his facts wrong. Obama alleged that over 200 trade unionists were being murdered per year and that the Uribe government was responsible. Problem was the last year where more than 200 trade unionists were killed in Colombia was 2001 and at that time Andres Pastrana was President of Colombia, not Alvaro Uribe. In 2007, the number of trade unionist murdered was 24 or 37 depending on which count you believe, the Colombian government’s or Amnesty International. In any case, Obama was far off the mark. These comments matter because in foreign affairs, precision in words really matter. Recall Obama’s comments in early June on Jerusalem when he misstated twenty years of stated US policy on Jerusalem’s status. His problem is that Obama panders to please his audience.

New Mexico
New Mexico’s Hispanic population is the ninth-largest in the nation. More than 874,000 Hispanics reside in New Mexico, 2% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 501,000 eligible Hispanic voters in New Mexico, 3% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters. The same issues as mentioned in Nevada. Richardson on the ticket may put New Mexico in Obama’s column.

New York
New York’s Hispanic population is the fourth-largest in the nation. More than 3 million Hispanics reside in New York, 7% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 1.5 million eligible Hispanic voters in New York, 8% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters. The Latin population in New York diverse though Puerto Ricans make up the largest percentage and they traditionally vote pocket book issues. Immigration is largely a non-issue for them since they are US citizens. Dominicans are another large group.

North Carolina
North Carolina’s Hispanic population is the 12th largest in the nation. About 595,000 Hispanics reside in North Carolina, representing 1% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 120,000 eligible Hispanic voters in North Carolina, less than 1% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters. North Carolina has one of the fastest-growing Hispanic populations in the country. The question is how many are now citizens.

Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania’s Hispanic population is the 14th largest in the nation. About 522,000 Hispanics reside in Pennsylvania, 1% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 261,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Pennsylvania, about 1.5% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters. While small in the grand scheme of things, Hispanics in Pennsylvania have in recent years become more politically mobilized as a result of ant-immigrant legislation passed on the local level.

Rhode Island
Rhode Island’s Hispanic population is the 35th largest in the nation. About 120,000 Hispanics reside in Rhode Island, less than 1% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 43,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Rhode Island, less than 1% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters. Rhode Island is the bluest state of all. Obama should carry the state without much of a problem.

Texas
Texas’s Hispanic population is the second largest in the nation. Nearly 8.4 million Hispanics reside in Texas, 19% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 3.6 million eligible Hispanic voters in Texas, 20% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters.

Virginia
Virginia’s Hispanic population is the 16th largest in the nation. More than 466,000 Hispanics reside in Virginia, 1% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 149,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Virginia, less than 1% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters. Probably not a factor in Virginia.

In the end, this is a margin game. While Clinton would no doubt carry Hispanics 2:1 overall and 3:1 in some states, Obama is going to have to compete for them with McCain, a name Hispanics recognize and a man they trust because he has stood with them on immigration. McCain should capture the 40% that voted for George W. Bush in 2004, the question is can he push that total closer to 50% and if so, Obama tiene un problema muy grande.

Note: The data used in this post is from the US Census Bureau, the Miami Herald, CNN, Pew Research and the New York Times.

My blog: By The Fault