Cain’t wait to hear what the excuse is, then, for this Homage to President Obama at the Sands Hill Elementary School in Asheville, NC:

Are you ready for this? That performance was for the P.T.A. Yeppers, it sure enough was.

Unfortunately, that was not the only NC school that had a “Glory And Honor To The ONE” performance planned. Check out what a teacher had prepared the students to do at the Jamestown Elementary School in Jamestown, NC:

Dear Obama

(Solo – spoken)
This is a letter to Barack Obama…it’s our way of saying thank you.
(Solo – spoken)
Thank you for showing me that no doors are closed.
I have the power to control my own future.
(Solo – spoken)
Thank you for showing me that I can stand tall and be proud of who I am.
(Solo – spoken)
You have given us strength, courage and hope.
And for that we all say Thank You!
(Verse 1)
Dear Obama, Hear us sing
We’re ready for the change that you will bring.
Going to shine the light for the world to see, to spread peace hope and democracy.
The time is now bring our troops home. Iraq can stand strong on its own.
And fight for healthcare for the young so that coverage is available for everyone.
And it’s time to find renewable ways to fuel our needs, so we don’t depend on Chavez and the Middle East. We’ve got to stand up tall for the middle class and regulate the businesses that in the past got away with no oversight.
Doing things that were not right.
Giving loans and bad advice, expecting us to pay the price.
The change we need should begin today and Barack we stand behind you as you lead the way.
(Chorus)
Dear Obama – ba, ba, ba – Obama.
Dear Obama – ba, ba, ba – Obama.
You’ve broken down doors
No limits anymore
We all agree that Yes We Can
Dear Obama we must unite and pull together members of the left and the right
With terror threats bringing fear we hope our world you will soon hear
Diplomacy in Islaamabaad and please control Ahmidinejad. With Hillary Clinton as your Secretary of State, your team has the opportunity to make.
The world will see us with adoring eyes. And our popularity will rise. Please pay off all our debts to China, and strengthen our forces against Al-qaeda. You have the power to change education, giving our public schools some dedication.
Raising up teacher pay
Improving Schools in every state
So every child can truly make it, in the steps that you have created.
(Chorus)
Dear Obama – ba, ba, ba – Obama.
Dear Obama – ba, ba, ba – Obama.
You’ve broken down doors
No limits anymore
We all agree that Yes We Can
(Solo – spoken)
And today is a new day where we can all see a new hope for our country.
And we know that all along your journey, people say mean things to you and about you. But you never gave up and that gives us strength to never give up. You are more than a President. You are a role model, a father figure, and a man we can all look up to, and for that we say Thank You.
(Chorus)
Dear Obama – ba, ba, ba – Obama.
Dear Obama – ba, ba, ba – Obama.
You’ve broken down doors
No limits anymore
We all agree that Yes We Can
(Solo – spoken)
Sincerely, every child, every family, everyone…
Barack Obama – We Thank You!

Oh. My. Goddess. Are you BELIEVING THIS?? Please, please explain to me how this is NOT indoctrination, because it sure as hell looks like it to me. It was only because concerned parents spoke out that there was intervention:

Concerned parents brought the song to the attention of Marcus Kindley, former Chairman of the Guilford Co., NC Republican Party and candidate for North Carolina Republican Party Chairman.

In a statement on ncgopchairman.com Kindley wrote, “This information was brought to my attention by a parent of a child attending this school. Such indoctrination of our children is reminiscent of totalitarian regimes marching their children out in praise of the esteemed leader.”

Kindley and parents of students attending Jamestown Elementary began an email campaign to voice their concerns over the song, which persuaded the principal of the school, and Paul Daniels, a member of the District 5 Board of Education in Guilford Co., NC, to order the teacher who planned the performance to cancel the song. It was not sung at the graduation ceremony.

I would not have thought this was a Republican v. Democrat kind of thing. It seems to me to be an AMERICAN thing.

You know, Hillary Clinton’s presidency would have been even more historic, no matter how hard David Axelrove and Co. tried to play that down. We have NEVER Had a WOMAN of any color serve as president. Do you honestly think this would have been happening had she not had the nomination stolen from her? Honestly?? No. Nor would she have WANTED something like this.

This Obama worship is cultish – there is no other way to look at it. And there is no other way to look at it but worship. This is, frankly, some scary, scary shit…

“(T)his is the moment that the world is waiting for.”

And Obama’s OWN claim that:

“I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.”

Wowie zowie. So, since it is pertinent, and I am sick as a dog, as we say down here in the South, I am reprinting the majority of that piece from back in July with a few slight changes. It is below.

So, YEAH, Obama is “what the world has been waiting for,” and what represents America returning to its “best Traditions” if that means an arrogant, narcissistic, sexist, thuggish, unethical, pandering, coercing, power-hungry Messiah-wannabe, then, yes – Obama is our guy!!! I must be some kind of heathen, though, because I just don’t buy it. Obama has made the classic mistake – he now believes his own Axelrovian hype. He really DOES think he is The One For Whom We Have Been Waiting!

Not long ago, I was reading a book by Kathy Reichs, a professor at UNC-Charlotte. Her books are the basis for the show, “Bones.” In this particular book, Death Du Jour, the question of cults comes up. Now her main character, Tempe Brennan, is also a professor art UNCC, a forensic anthropologist. Because of a case on which she is working, she goes to a sociology professor at UNCC (and the information in this books on cults is legitimate – it comes from another UNCC professor of Religious Studies, James Tabor). Once you read it, you will see why. Dr. Brennan’s comments will be in italics. Red, the Sociology professor’s, will be in regular typeface. Okey dokey – ready? Here we go:

“All right. What’s a cult?”

“Cults are not just groups of crazies who follow weird leaders. At least the way I use the term, they are organizations with a set of common features.” (On age 295, Red makes the point that cults can also be political parties.)

“Yes.” I leaned back in my chair.

“A cult forms around a charismatic individual who promises something. This individual professes some special knowledge. Sometimes the claim is access to ancient secrets, sometimes it’s an entirely new discovery to which he or she alone is privy. Sometimes it’s a combination of both. The leader offers to share the information with those who follow. Some leaders offer utopia. Or a way out. Just come along, follow me. I’ll make the decisions. All will be fine.”

“How does that differ from a priest or rabbi?”

“In a cult it’s this charismatic leader who eventually becomes the object of devotion; in some cases he’s actually deified. And as that happens, the leader comes to hold extraordinary control over the lives of his followers.

“Cults are totalistic, authoritarian. The leader is supreme and delegates power to very few. The leader’s morality becomes the only acceptable theology. The only acceptable behavior. And, as I said, veneration is eventually centered on him, not on supreme beings or abstract principles.

“And often there is a double set of ethics. Members are urged to be honest and loving to each other but to deceive and shun outsiders. (Emphasis mine.) Established religions tend to follow one set of rules for everybody.”

“How does a leader gain such control?”

“That’s another important element. Thought reform. Cult leaders use a variety of psychological processes to manipulate their members. Some leaders are fairly benign, but others are not and really exploit the idealism of their followers.

“The way I see it, there are two broad types of cults, both of which use thought reform. The commercially packaged ‘awareness programs’” – he gestured quotation marks – “use very intense persuasion techniques. These groups keep members by getting them to buy more and more courses.

“Then there are the cults that recruit followers for life. These groups use organized psychological and social persuasion to produce extreme attitudinal changes. As a result they come to exert enormous control over the lives of their members. They are manipulative, deceptive, and highly exploitative.”

Amy here – hmmm, let’s just guess which one I think Obama is?!?! Ahem. The discussion continues, but I thought this was significant:

“I still don’t see why anyone but a nutcase would fall for such crap.”

“Not at all.” He shook his head. “It’s not just marginal people who get sucked in. In some studies approximately two thirds of the respondents come from normal families and were demonstrating age-appropriate behavior when they entered a cult.”

“Has your research shed light on why people seek out these movements?”

“Often they don’t. These groups seek you. And as I’ve said, these leaders can be incredibly charming and persuasive.”

AMY here – the discussion continues, and then this question: “I just don’t get it, Red. How can people be so gullible?”

“It’s seductive to think that you’re elite. Chosen. Most cults teach their members that only they are enlightened and everyone else in the world is left out. Lesser in some way. It’s powerful stuff.” (Kathy Reichs, Death Du Jour, 1999, pp 295 – 300)

See what I mean?? Do you see it?!? To me it has been crystal clear. Obama has been engaging in “thought reform,” as discussed in this book, and has taken it to a massive level. For him to go to the House of Representatives as The Anointed One, elevating himself to a height neither deserved or REAL, says a lot. And it says just as much about all of the House members who clapped themselves silly. They wanted to bask in the glow of The One, they wanted to show they, too, are in his employ.

This is frightening stuff. I thought Bush was bad, but I fear Obama more. He has demonstrated time and time again that he is beholden to no person, and no position. He can dismiss even relatives with seeming ease, and change positions as quickly as the wind blows. He is a dangerous man, and his followers likewise. Not all of them, mind you, but enough of them seem to have this mentality, which is mighty scary, indeed.

What next? The Empire State Building renamed, “The Barack Obama Building?” The Rocky Mountains renamed, like they want to do in Antigua (see article about schools changing their names)? All because this man is half-African? When this becomes the standard by which we elevate people, we are starting a dangerous, dangerous precedent indeed. After the election, I wrote a piece entitled, “Judging A Man” on this very issue (I was not alone – many better writers had pieces on this topic, too). But when you have mayors claiming that Obama’s singular achievement is being bi-racial, you know we are losing the edge as a nation. Add that to the rampant level of cheating and general dishonesty by our young people, sanctioned by their parents and, too often, their teachers (the latter often take a great deal of abuse if they try to maintain standards of decency), and I despair for this country and what we are becoming.

A number of videos and comments on Youtube and elsewhere have compared the personality cult surrounding Barack Obama with Adolph Hitler, drawing parallels among other things with the way that thuggish supporters have tried to silence Obama’s opponents, the way people like the Black Panthers – in a manner similar to Hitler’s Brownshirts – tried to stop people voting, and the way the media has been manipulated in his favor, just as it was in Hitler’s day.

There have been further parallels drawn with the way Obama has got support from leading businessmen like George Soros, Warren Buffett, the owners of Google and Youtube among others, while Hitler too had support from top industrialists – like steel tycoons Alfred Krupp and Fritz Thyssen – who contributed huge amounts to Hitler’s funds and mistakenly believed that they could make Hitler dance to their tune.

Some have also drawn parallels between Obama and other charismatic leaders who led their followers to oblivion, including David Koresh of the Branch Davidian and Jim Jones of the Jonestown mass suicide. Saddam Hussein is another that springs to mind.

One thing that all these people had in common, apart from being the center of charismatic personality cults, was that they all became recklessly suicidal when things began to go wrong, and took as many people down with them as they could.

This is a prospect that I find even more disturbing than talk of Obama’s socialist leanings and his connection with unsavory people like Jeremiah Wright and terrorists like Bill Ayres.

What led to the downfall of these charismatic leaders and their followers was the idolatry surrounding them and the huge weight of expectations that rested on them.

The pressures of such idolatry and expectations can unhinge even the most well balanced and well-intentioned people. But most if not all of these people were not exactly well balanced, however persuasive they might have been with their followers.

Most if not all suffered problems of self esteem following traumatic childhoods, like Obama’s father abandoning his family, and being moved around from place to place as a child and not being able to settle.

A common result of such childhood trauma and the low self esteem it generates is a deep-seated need for approval and acclamation, and in this Obama has probably exceeded his wildest dreams. He has become an idol to millions and millions.

One of the big dangers is that the objects of such idolatry begin to believe their own hype. Even if they don’t, they almost inevitably begin to lose touch with reality.

It’s what killed Elvis Presley in the end. He became an object of worship and he couldn’t cope with it. He was after all just a simple country boy and this idolatry pushed him increasingly into a world in which he no longer had any idea of where reality began or ended.

Nobody can cope with the pressure of such idolatry, and nobody can cope with the kind of expectations Obama’s followers have heaped upon his shoulders. Like the expectations of the woman who expected Obama to pay her mortgage and her gas bills.

Now she was not alone in this. It is obvious that there are many, many people who believe that Obama is going to be the answer to all their problems. And the sad, the tragic thing is, he is not.

In a way the whole situation reminds me of the time in 1960 when the Congo region of Africa gained its independence from Belgium. The people of the Congo thought this was going to be the end of hunger and the start of prosperity for all. People teemed into the city from the countryside carrying buckets and baskets and anything else they could find to hold all the good things they expected to be given as a result of national independence. And of course they were sadly disappointed.

The totally unrealistic expectations surrounding Obama are not too far removed from the expectations ifrom the the Congo during that time, and it these unrealistic expectations that have led to some vomit-inducing hymns of praise for a man who has proved nothing so far except that he is a very skillful talker and a great manipulator of people, just as Hitler was.

Now one can understand and sympathize to some extent with the fact that to many people he represents a triumph over racism, even though some might argue that there has been reverse racism with the vast majority of black Americans voting for him even though he was the least qualified of all the candidates.

But the feelings of many Obama supporters have gone far beyond the realms of sanity or reality. For many people Obama has become a cult figure, and the history of cult figures shows they are extremely vulnerable to self-destruction.

In the past, when expectations have exceeded the reality of what is possible, the tendency has been for those in power to take reckless measures, and this is one of the dangers we face with Obama. Added to this is the fact that with no experience of government, he has no solid foundation on which to base any decisions.

I suspect that Obama may already be increasingly disturbed by the idolatry and expectations surrounding him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he holds many of his followers in contempt for the impossible things they expect of him, a man with no real training or experience to govern the most powerful nation in the world.

But there are many signs that Obama actually believes in his own hype, and that is the most frightening thing of all.

The 200,000 souls who thronged to his speech in Berlin came not just for him, he told the enthralled audience of congressional representatives. “I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions,” he said, according to the source.

Holy Cow. Now, I should admit that I was GOING to write some more about Kaine and his BFF, Obama, as well as their joint BFF, Joe Lieberman, but honestly, how can I resist THIS??

“(T)his is the moment, as Nancy [Pelosi] noted, that the world is waiting for.”

And:

“I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.”

Well, YEAH, if what the world has been waiting for, and what represents America returning to its “best Traditions” is an arrogant, narcissistic, sexist, thuggish, unethical, pandering, coercing, power-hungry Messiah-wannabe, then, yes – Obama is our guy!!!

I must be some kind of heathen, though, because I just don’t buy it (and before I go on, PLEASE, Oborgabots – PLEASE don’t waste “Comment” space going on and on about how that is not a full quote, and is taken out of context. Frankly, I don’t give a damn if what comes before it is, “somehow” and ends with, “but it should be CLINTON if it is ‘returning’ to its best traditions,” it is the absolute HEIGHT of arrogance and narcissism. Now, go away – let the grown ups talk.). Obama has made the classic mistake – he now believes his own Axelrovian hype. He really DOES think he is The One For Whom We Have Been Waiting! Wowie zowie!!

Last night, I was reading a book by Kathy Reichs, a professor at UNC-Charlotte. Her books are the basis for the show, “Bones.” In this particular book, Death Du Jour, the question of cults comes up. Now her main character, Tempe Brennan, is also a professor art UNCC, a forensic anthropologist. Because of a case on which she is working, she goes to a sociology professor at UNCC (and the information in this books on cults is legitimate – it comes from another UNCC professor of Religious Studies, James Tabor). Because I care, I am going to type out the dialogue for you. Once you read it, you will see why. Dr. Brennan’s comments will be in italics. Red, the Sociology professor’s, will be in regular typeface. Okey dokey – ready? Here we go:

“All right. What’s a cult?”

“Cults are not just groups of crazies who follow weird leaders. At least the way I use the term, they are organizations with a set of common features.” (On age 295, Red makes the point that cults can also be political parties.)

“Yes.” I leaned back in my chair.

“A cult forms around a charismatic individual who promises something. This individual professes some special knowledge. Sometimes the claim is access to ancient secrets, sometimes it’s an entirely new discovery to which he or she alone is privy. Sometimes it’s a combination of both. The leader offers to share the information with those who follow. Some leaders offer utopia. Or a way out. Just come along, follow me. I’ll make the decisions. All will be fine.”

“How does that differ from a priest or rabbi?”

“In a cult it’s this charismatic leader who eventually becomes the object of devotion; in some cases he’s actually deified. And as that happens, the leader comes to hold extraordinary control over the lives of his followers.

“Cults are totalistic, authoritarian. The leader is supreme and delegates power to very few. The leader’s morality becomes the only acceptable theology. The only acceptable behavior. And, as I said, veneration is eventually centered on him, not on supreme beings or abstract principles.

“And often there is a double set of ethics. Members are urged to be honest and loving to each other but to deceive and shun outsiders. (Emphasis mine.) Established religions tend to follow one set of rules for everybody.”

“How does a leader gain such control?”

“That’s another important element. Thought reform. Cult leaders use a variety of psychological processes to manipulate their members. Some leaders are fairly benign, but others are not and really exploit the idealism of their followers.

“The way I see it, there are two broad types of cults, both of which use thought reform. The commercially packaged ‘awareness programs’” – he gestured quotation marks – “use very intense persuasion techniques. These groups keep members by getting them to buy more and more courses.

“Then there are the cults that recruit followers for life. These groups use organized psychological and social persuasion to produce extreme attitudinal changes. As a result they come to exert enormous control over the lives of their members. They are manipulative, deceptive, and highly exploitative.”

Amy here – hmmm, let’s just guess which one I think Obama is?!?! Ahem. The discussion continues, but I thought this was significant:

“I still don’t see why anyone but a nutcase would fall for such crap.”

“Not at all.” He shook his head. “It’s not just marginal people who get sucked in. In some studies approximately two thirds of the respondents come from normal families and were demonstrating age-appropriate behavior when they entered a cult.”

“Has your research shed light on why people seek out these movements?”

“Often they don’t. These groups seek you. And as I’ve said, these leaders can be incredibly charming and persuasive.”

AMY here – the discussion continues, and then this question: “I just don’t get it, Red. How can people be so gullible?”

“It’s seductive to think that you’re elite. Chosen. Most cults teach their members that only they are enlightened and everyone else in the world is left out. Lesser in some way. It’s powerful stuff.” (Kathy Reichs, Death Du Jour, 1999, pp 295 – 300)

See what I mean?? Do you see it?!? To me it is crystal clear. Obama has been engaging in “thought reform,” as discussed in this book, and has taken it to a massive level. For him to come to the House of Representatives as The Anointed One, elevating himself to a height neither deserved or REAL, says a lot. And it says just as much about all of the House members who clapped themselves silly. They want to bask in the glow of The One, they want to show they, too, are in his employ. It is frightening stuff, and we cannot allow him to take over this country. There is no telling what will happen if he does. I thought Bush was bad, but I fear Obama more. He has demonstrated time and time again that he is beholden to no person, no position. He can dismiss even relatives with seeming ease, and change positions as the wind blows. He is a dangerous man, and his followers likewise. Not all of them, mind you, but enough of them seem to have this mentality, which is mighty scary. (The lengths to which some of them have gone is truly scary – hnging a dead rabbit on someone’s door and slashing their tires, for example. That is one extreme, but stealing caucus packets to ENSURE the victory of their One is in the same realm – they will stop at nothing to ensure their Master’s success.)

Again – Superdelegates – this man has flown off into incredibly heady flights of fancy, and cannot be trusted with the most important job on the face of the planet. A cult leader is not what we need to lead us out of our current climate. We need someone whose feet are on the ground, who is clear-headed, who stands with ALL Americans, not just her cultish gathering. There is time. Start now. Lay the groundwork. And come the end of August, protect us from this self-proclaimed Messiah. This heathen has no use for him.

GO TO IOwnMyVote.com and take the survey on Platform Reform for the Democratic Party. Let YOUR voice be counted (well, maybe – this IS the Democratic Party I’m talking about here, but have FAITH that it will matter!).

[T]he plane that once had an American flag on its tail now sports the Obama “O.” “Change We Can Believe In” and the candidate’s website are splayed across both sides of the fuselage, making this 757 anything but inconspicuous.

This means, of course, that the people of Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Germany, and other countries will see a plane without an American flag — a plane on which the sole symbol is all about one man. Barack: Afghans and Iraqis won’t be voting for you in November. But they will notice that you failed to represent yourself as a proud American citizen while you are abroad. We’ve noticed too.

Here is an image of Air Force One, with the American flag appropriately displayed:

Here is the tail section of Obama’s plane:

Below is the image of the front section of Obama’s newly repainted plane:

As a patriotic American citizen, I am embarrassed that a presumptive presidential candidate would fail to display a core symbol of the United States of America.

As a patriotic American citizen, I’ve been somewhat concerned about Barack Obama’s failure to put his hand over his heart during the playing of the National Anthem as well as his blather when he was forced to explain why he didn’t wear the popular flag pin.

As a patriotic American citizen, I am deeply concerned that the Democratic party may nominate a candidate who is solely focused on displaying his OWN image and symbols rather than those of his party and his country.

Not only is his plane’s symbolism unpatriotic, it is also narcissistic.

:::::::

Fox Embed and Politico’s “Playbook 24/7″ have more details.

I’m a little confused. And it’s starting to bother me. Just when I think I am beginning to understand who Obama is the guy just up and changes. As easy as putting on a new pair of socks. But forgetting that your feet still stink. So I’ve been wondering if it is possible that Obama stands for anything at all. Or if he wasn’t kidding about all that change stuff. Maybe that is why the rest of us need hope so bad. Because we sure as hell can’t count on him to show any backbone. But worms are like that.

I mean you gotta figure that a politician will change from time to time. Especially when they talk about working across the aisle. The art of compromise requires a little give and take. And call me silly, but I actually think that people willing to evolve their perspectives are the kind of folks we need in politics. If someone is incapable of learning and growing then they sure as hell don’t need their hands around the reigns of power.

But that doesn’t appear to be what is happening with Barky Obama. No, I think he has a bad case of the I have no core values syndrome. AKA I will be whatever people want me to be as long as it allows me to gain power over them. And what gets me is that he has the audacity to call this a new kind of politics. It’s such a shame that a Harvard graduate wouldn’t know that slimeball I’ll pretend to be on your side politics has been around for ages. Hardly a new phenomenon.

And I am not the only one scratching their head over these sudden transformations. Even some on the fringe left are starting to question Obama’s positions. Or should I say the lack of them. But most are making excuses for him. WORMs for the Worm. An army of them.

One such WORM is Stephen Ducat who writes for the Huff and Puff Huffington Post. The dude is a true believer. That’s for sure. But at least he has accepted that Obama is not divine. One of the fortunate few. So maybe there is hope after all.

Understanding Obama’s Recent Right Turn

To see Barack Obama behave like any other invertebrate Democrat is an especially painful blow.

You see what I mean? Ducat actually realizes that Obama is a Worm. And he sees clearly that this talk of a new politics is just a ruse, a fancy slogan that sounds good and people hope is true.

Obama’s resort to the triangulation of the old politics is an admission of a much more serious limitation. It tells us that he does not believe in his own ability to reframe certain key issues in a way that makes a progressive stance the one that is obviously the most moral. It shows that he does not feel up to the task of rendering some liberal principles intellectually clear and emotionally compelling.

Ducat recognizes that Obama is not a real leader after all. Which is actually kind of comforting. Maybe he has been laying off the Cult-Aide for a few days.

His limited ability to exercise moral leadership leaves him with no choice other than to accept Republican frames on issues. So, on the FISA bill, for example, loss of privacy and immunity for criminal telecom companies become a trivial price to pay for protection from unfathomable and pervasive Evil.

But just when I thought I had some hope Ducat goes ahead and spoils it for me. Because even though he realizes that Obama is all hype and doesn’t even believe his own bullshit, he can’t help himself but to come to Obama’s defense. He has a game plan. A strategy that he believes will make everything all better. And if it wasn’t so absolutely ridiculous it might be funny.

Ducat is of the mind that all Obama needs to do is create a commercial. He can make the fallout from his nasty little flip flops go away by adopting that tried and true strategy: Divert attention away from yourself by blaming the other guys for the things you support.

The 30-second ad opens on a scene in a middle class suburban kitchen. A mother is speaking on the phone. Her voice is muffled and is drowned out by an intermittent electronic beep, along with the sounds of someone frenetically striking a computer keyboard. The screen quickly splits in half to reveal the woman’s nine-year-old daughter speaking by cell phone to inform her mother that she is ready to be picked up from the school bus stop. The screen is then split in thirds to reveal a man wearing headphones sitting in front of a computer typing notes, obviously monitoring the mother-daughter conversation. Behind him is a massive warehouse filled with computers and scurrying NSA technicians. This image then takes up the entire screen. The voiceover says, “Republicans, like George Bush and John McCain, have taken away our freedoms, invaded our private lives, and made us less safe.” We then quickly see a succession of images — a scene from Iraq that features a burning American tank, a scene of grenade launchers being placed into a packing crate, a scene of an unguarded American port where uninspected shipping containers are being off loaded, and finally a scene of a car with blacked out windows slowing down in front of an unsecured nuclear power plant. A window rolls down. A hand holding a camera reaches out to snap photos. Then the car speeds away. The voice over then concludes, “Protecting America means preserving our rights [cut to an image of the Constitution in which the camera scrolls down the Bill of Rights section], along with defeating terrorists.” The last image is a scene of Barack Obama standing up and pointing toward a large map of some unidentifiable part of the world. Below him is a large conference table of twenty or so advisors who are listening with rapt attention. (Emphasis mine)

And the sad part is that this strategy might just work. Because it focuses on fear. The very thing that Obama claims is the old politics. We are to ignore the irony that this is being presented as a “progressive” plan. Obama’s lack of moral principles extends down to his followers. Worms all.

Someone discovered this via Michelle Malkin’s site. She posted the photo on June 25th in “‘Obama or die!’: Who’s obsessing about Pooh Bear’s race?”

Agree with Ms. Malkin’s politics or not, she makes a point here:

It was an Obama lovefest at the Black Entertainment Television awards last night. Puff Daddy/P Diddy/whatever chanted “Obama or die” and urged his peers to elect the “first black president.” Alicia Keys, last heard spreading conspiracy theories about the government killing Tupac and Biggie and creating gangsta rap to perpetuate black genocide, yelled “Obama, y’all!”

It was one big race-based ad for Obama.

UPDATE: Someone e-mailed me and tells me the following:

I take it by now you have probably recieved many emails regarding the Sean Combs pic of him wearing a Obama or Die t-shirt. If not I think you should know that the pic is indeed a phoney. He wore no such t-shirt on stage at the 2008 BET Awards. You can check on wireimage.com to see exactly what all the celebrities wore on stage that night and when Combs presented Alicia Keys with her award he indeed had on a black and white suit. The fake photo thats going around is actually from a 2004 event where he did indeed wear a Vote or Die t-shirt. Its the same exact pose- background and sunglasses. As a matter of fact here is a video of what he wore at the BET Awards- maybe you should update you post on noquarter.

He starts with a ridiculous premise. And it goes downhill from there.
But here, have a look.

HOUND’S CREDO

We believe Sen. Clinton supporters should vote for Sen. Obama because, as Hillary herself said so forcefully and poignantly in her great speech a few Saturdays ago, the best way to achieve the changes she has fought so hard to bring to America, and on which she based her campaign, is to support Sen. Obama, whose policies are almost identical to hers.

Well Ed, if that were true then none of us would have supported Hillary to begin with. I mean come on, does it even make sense to say that the best way to achieve the changes Hillary championed is to vote for someone that didn’t champion those issues? Does it even enter that apparently tiny little mind of yours to consider that we supported and still support Hillary BECAUSE Obama does not champion the issues we feel so strongly about?

And like all politicians or supporters that want to over exaggerate their importance Rendell makes the statement we hear from so many quarters.

No one worked harder than I did for Hillary and I believe no one could admire her and what she represents more that I do.

What gets me is that no one ever calls people like Rendell on their arrogant egos. After all, not everyone can work harder or admire her more. So somebody has to be lying. I think I will group Eddie in that liars group.

And in a coup de grâce Rendell makes PUMAs out to be the enemies of freedom. As if we would be the ones responsible for placing an inexperienced, unqualified candidate in the White House. Don’t you get it Eddie? The reason we are united against Obama is because we don’t want to place an inexperienced, unqualified candidate in the most powerful position on earth. That’s your guy Eddie.

So don’t try to unload that cart of donkeyshit on us.

Of course a little revisionist history is required for the partakers of Cult-Aide. This next line just leaves me in uncontrolled hysterics.

Close your eyes and think about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton standing together united at a ceremony for the bill signing of legislation that guarantees every American affordable, effective healthcare.

Earth to Eddie boy Rendell: During the campaign that you supposedly worked harder for Hillary than anyone else do you happen to recall that she stated over and over that Obama did NOT support Universal Health care? Are we now suddenly to believe that he supports it? Where is the briefing paper on that one?

Lets see… he doesn’t support the 4th Amendment, has issues with the 1st Amendment and is confused by the 2nd Amendment. But you want us to believe that he has finally come around to supporting Universal Health care? How about a few sources of substantiating fact?

And just to demonstrate to us that Hound isn’t our enemy he states something completely ridiculous.

One last point – HOUND is not anti-PUMA. We agree with many of your grievances. For example, we, too, believe that the Democratic Party’s nominating process is unfair and undemocratic.

Uh… excuse me. You want us to believe that Obama believes the nominating process is unfair and undemocratic? ROFLMAO. You got to be kidding. Right? I mean your position is absurd. But that is what drinking the Cult-Aide does to someone. They are able at a moment’s notice to say the most ridiculous things with a straight face. And they expect the rest of us to believe it.

And finally Rendell reaches out to PUMAs. But in doing so he decides to belittle us in the process. A skill learned from Obama no doubt.

So, we are asking all PUMA members to curb your disappointment, mute your anger and frustration and join HOUND to help change America. While the PUMA may be more swift and athletic, the HOUND is smarter and more perceptive.

Well, screw that. A PUMA can kill a dog any day of the week. So word to the wise Eddie. Be on the look out for a cat you can’t control. A cat lurking in your backyard. And soon to be knocking on your front door.

Just Say No Deal!

PUMA

Obama’s support for the FISA “compromise”

What had been a vicious assault on our Constitution, and corrupt complicity to conceal Bush lawbreaking, magically and instantaneously transformed into a perfectly understandable position, even a shrewd and commendable decision, that we should not only accept, but be grateful for as undertaken by Obama for our Own Good.

My friends, this is exactly the definition of a cult. People do and say things that if they were using their reasoning faculties they would know that what they were doing was wrong. But instead they “believe” in the superior will of the Master and follow along like so many lemmings. Taking their will and good sense off the cliff.

Otherwise reasonable people did a massive 180 as if no one was looking. They even went so far as to redefine what they were supporting so that it wouldn’t sound so bad.

Numerous individuals stepped forward to assure us that there was only one small bad part of this bill — the part which immunizes lawbreaking telecoms — and since Obama says that he opposes that part, there is no basis for criticizing him for what he did. Besides, even if Obama decided to support an imperfect bill, it’s our duty to refrain from voicing any criticism of him, because the Only Thing That Matters is that Barack Obama be put in the Oval Office, and we must do anything and everything — including remain silent when he embraces a full-scale assault on the Fourth Amendment and the rule of law — because every goal is now subordinate to electing Barack Obama our new Leader.

Notice that? The most important thing is to put Obama in the White House. Our Constitutional protections wane in comparison to this importance. All those folks that fought and died or were maimed for life defending the Constitution, their lives mean nothing compared with the one life that is Obama. He is a lot more important that the principles that make us a great democracy. No wonder he has his own Presidential Seal.

A single example of what this bill does to harm us is worth pointing out. For several years now the Democratic party has stated time after time that certain powers claimed by Bush were unconstitutional and thus illegal. But not any longer. Thanks to Obama and his Cult.

The bill legalizes many of the warrantless eavesdropping activities George Bush secretly and illegally ordered in 2001. Those warrantless eavesdropping powers violate core Fourth Amendment protections. And Barack Obama now supports all of it, and will vote it into law. Those are just facts.

Quite frankly this action is much worse than anything Bush did. With the thuggish behavior of the Obama campaign and his hordes of Cult followers the potential for intimidation, violation and abuse are far greater than anything we have ever seen before. Even worse than Nixon.

Word to the wise: NObama!

Just Say No Deal

Mr Danzig told the Centre for New American Security: “Winnie the Pooh seems to me to be a fundamental text on national security.”

Look, I am all for thinking outside the box. But this guy is thinking outside the universe of reason. What should we expect next? That Patti Solis Doyle will pick Dr. Seuss as Obama’s running mate. Strangely, that somehow seems entirely appropriate.

But it isn’t just Pooh that we should emulate. Danzig believes that Luke Skywalker has a place in an Obama Administration as well.

In a briefing which will inform Mr Obama’s understanding of terrorists, Mr Danzig said he learnt much from recent interviews with jailed Aum Shinrikyo terrorists who released sarin nerve gas on the Tokyo underground in 1995.

He said that even people who are relatively well off and successful can feel like failures and become alientated from their societies. He said one terrorist told him: “We have been raised on a theory of superheroes. We all want to be like Luke Skywalker.

So this guy Danzig that is apparently on Obama’s very short list to become his National Security Advisor learns things from Cult leaders. No wonder Obama wants him on his team. Danzig will be fawning all over him, in awe of the Master.

If you aren’t sure by now that this dude needs some emergency mental health care just look at these words of wisdom from a close advisor to Obama.

“When we’re doing mundane things, we lose track of our ambition but when someone comes along, like Asahara, the head of the cult, and presents himself as a messiah and gives us a picture of progress that is ordained by heaven and that we are carrying out a saintly mission on earth that is for us extraordinarily evocative.”

Mr Danzig added: “The parallels with al Qaeda are obvious.”

Uh, Earth to Danzig. You seem to be describing your boss fairly well. Not exactly a great selling point if you ask me. Next time, try laying off the Cult-Aide for a few hours before you brief the rest of us on how Obama will make us safer by following the advice of imaginary characters.

And if we weren’t convinced enough that Danzig was WAY out there he offers one more tidbit of wisdom. And folks, you just can’t make this stuff up.

He said that another lesson about terrorists can be learnt from studying violent football fans. “One of the best books I’ve read on terrorism in recent years was not about terrorism at all,” he said. “It’s Bill Buford’s book Among the Thugs, which is a description of soccer violence in Britain.

“Buford became absorbed by soccer violence. He describes the most appalling examples of soccer violence by fans against fans. But he describes with relentless honesty how he finds sickening things attractive. He says violence lets the adrenaline flow; it’s like sex, you live in the moment.”

So terrorism is like violence is like sex. So what exactly is he suggesting? That we should all take a primer course in S & M? Or is he suggesting that the solution to our national security problems is that we aren’t kinky enough? Perhaps we should ask Pooh.

All fine and good to have noble aspirations but have Obama’s supporters looked at his lack of accomplishments? There is no there. Have you thought about the how? Change is hard work. It is not a series of platitudes. As Joel Stein of the Los Angeles Times noted, “we know that we are being fooled, but we kind of like it.” Funny stuff. Your enjoyment of deception risks my world.

When I see a video like this that touts a messianic “We Are The Ones” message, I worry because I yet to see a messiah deliver. To me, I see a cult of wanna-be day dream believers, not tempered by the reality of the world as it exists.

If only you ever visited the trenches, you would see that it takes hard work and experience, a knowledge of policy alternatives, a dedication to see a project through its completion through pratfalls and disappointments. You are asking to me to take a chance a something “new and different”. Frankly, I have seen this all before.

Politics has real life consequences and for Obama supporters to project the change they want to see on a man who has yet to deliver an ounce of change is frankly delusional. Have you asked yourselves why radicals like Jodie Evans and William Ayers find cause to hope in Obama? How does that vision of America square with yours? Are they compatible? Like you, they see what they want to see in Obama. So do Rashid Khalid and Congressman Robert Wexler. One of them is bound to be disappointed because their agendas are radically different. Again, that’s cult-like behaivour to see only your projections, an innocence that tomorrow belongs to you when the reality might be far different than your starry eyed empty glazes of adoration. The question they should be asking is how is he going to do this? And what point do his flaws become self-evident?

Obama has been very coy in trying to be all things to all people and in the first video, people hold noble visions without ever thinking that Obama has not exactly been an agent of change. His record is sparse but there are some indications. Please tell me how voting for the Bush-Cheney Energy Policy is something “new and different.” Please tell me how telling the voting public that he doesn’t accept contributions from Washington lobbyist and then takes contributions from others in the same firms who either are not registered lobbyists or work in a state capital is “new and different.” And then there are questions of judgment galore. The Reverend Wright is not off the table. But you insist on seeing what you want to see. We see a different Obama.

Setting realistic expectations is the first responsibility of responsible leadership. And when one witnesses before one’s very eyes an usurpation of power in an unyielding quest for more and more control, I worry. Now he wants to nominated by acclamation. What is he an Emperor? Is this a Greek tragedy or a Roman farce? I have seen this all before. History is littered with Obama. Authoritarianism has many faces and even well-meaning autocrats trample their opposition. I don’t do benevolent dictators. That’s not the American way. Sorry I must JUST SAY NO DEAL.

There are more of us than you think. And while you wax poetic notions, we will be exposing Obama for who he really is, a danger and a fraud.

From my blog: By The Fault

Hopefully you had dinner some time ago and there is little chance that it won’t stay down. But I am warning you in advance. Listen to this bullshit and tell me if it hurts.

The wife U.S. Republican John McCain callously left behind

While Obama will surely press his credentials as the embodiment of the American dream – a handsome, charismatic young black man who was raised on food stamps by a single mother and who represents his country’s future – McCain will present himself as a selfless, principled war hero whose campaign represents not so much a battle for the presidency of the United States, but a crusade to rescue the nation’s tarnished reputation.

(Emphasis my own)

We have all heard this myth. But upon examination it just doesn’t add up. Where is it that Obama was raised on food stamps? In Hawaii? Don’t think so. He was enrolled in a high scale upper class private school. Was it in Indonesia? Nope, it wouldn’t have been there either. They never even heard of food stamps. Kansas? Nope not there either. In fact, Obama never lived there. Not even a day. Not. a. single. day.

So this food stamp myth is precisely that. It is a lie made up by Obama to make him seem as if he is one of us and not the elitist pampered snob that he really is. How many days do you think he spent wondering how he would put food on the table? I am fairly certain that the answer to that question is NONE. Unless of course he decided to spend his money on drugs rather than food. But that would have been a conscious decision, not something that happened because of the hand life had dealt him.

So the author of this article starts with a lie to make Obama seem to be someone he isn’t. Then she uses that lie as a set up for a hit piece on McCain, someone that spent 5 years being tortured and abused by the Vietnamese. A hardship that has been carefully and fully documented for decades. Not some made up piece of illusion spinned by the Obama WORMs.

The author, Sharon Churcher, wastes no time at all getting to the meat of her contention. She believes that McCain is a horrible man that dumped his wife to take up with someone younger. And she claims that McCain did this solely for Cindy’s money.

Some of McCain’s acquaintances are less forgiving, however. They portray the politician as a self-centred womaniser who effectively abandoned his crippled wife to ‘play the field’. They accuse him of finally settling on Cindy, a former rodeo beauty queen, for financial reasons.

McCain was then earning little more than £25,000 a year as a naval officer, while his new father-in-law, Jim Hensley, was a multi-millionaire who had impeccable political connections.

Never mind that the former Mrs. McCain, Carol, doesn’t believe that John left her for any intention that was not honorable or natural. Churcher ignores the truth and holds onto a lie. A lie as false as the lie about Obama she started her article with.

Carol insists she remains on good terms with her ex-husband, who agreed as part of their divorce settlement to pay her medical costs for life. ‘I have no bitterness,’ she says. ‘My accident is well recorded. I had 23 operations, I am five inches shorter than I used to be and I was in hospital for six months. It was just awful, but it wasn’t the reason for my divorce.

‘My marriage ended because John McCain didn’t want to be 40, he wanted to be 25. You know that happens…it just does.’

I mean, think about it. If you were captured and tortured and abused for 5 years, do you think it might have changed your views on a lot of things? Don’t you think that under the circumstances you might want to try new and different things? And if his ex-wife isn’t bitter do you think that it is fair to ask the rest of us to become bitter toward someone when the person closest to him at the time doesn’t see him that way?

Clearly Churcher is reaching here. She is so filled up with the Cult-Aide that playing loose and hard with the facts doesn’t mean a thing to her. The Obamedia has been getting away with telling lies and twisting the truth for so long now that many journalists don’t even feel the need to pretend to follow what used to be the rules of journalism any longer.

I expect that this type of yellow journalism will become the new standard. In fact, it is already starting.

Brilliant at Breakfast has already weighed in. And no, they don’t worry about using facts to back up their claims. Only the horrible rumors we have all heard.

Yes, my feminist friends, you’re planning to vote for a guy who dumped his wife because she had the temerity to be disfigured in an automobile accident and gained weight. You know, when you look at Cindy McCain these days, she doesn’t look happy, does she? Maybe it’s the 4 tons of Botox she has injected into her face in a vain attempt to still be the 25-year-old her husband fell for in the first place. Or maybe it’s that a man who dumped a wife because she didn’t look the same anymore, and who called the woman for whom he dumped her a “cunt” and a “trollop” in public, probably berates her in private because SHE didn’t stay 25 forever either.

I mean seriously, have you such a load of crap from anywhere? Except maybe The Drudge Report. Because that is exactly the type of nonsense and the style that these folks are going to emulate.

This attempt by Churcher is clearly designed to make the alternative to Obama, McCain, seem as if he is a woman hating, immoral creep. McCain may be many things but he isn’t any of these things. What we are witnessing is a Cultist response to those of us that refuse to follow the party line and back their illegitimate candidate. They will do and say anything they can over the next few months to tear McCain down and make him appear to be a monster. Sort of what Samantha Powers tried to do to Hillary.

And speaking for myself, every single time that the Cultists use lies and distortions to create a false image of who McCain is the closer I will move toward him. Every. Single. Time.