Obama Nominates Superfund Polluter Lawyer To Run DOJ Environment Division

UPDATE: Coal, Electric Industries Big Winners in Climate Bill Deal

Obama appointed an attorney who defended major polluters to head up the DOJ’s environmental division? Doesn’t that sound like what George Bush used to do?

And who made the DOJ announcement? Why it’s the George Soros-backed Center for American Progress. When are you, and your buddies at MoveOn, the ACLU, and the Center for American Progress going to get a clue? Obama is solely interested in helping big corporations and has NO interest in any principals, let alone the “little people.”

Here’s the story, straight from the Center for American Progress:

GM cleanup of the Bedford Superfund site.

President Barack Obama has nominated a lawyer for the nation’s largest toxic polluters to run the enforcement of the nation’s environmental laws. On Tuesday, Obama “announced his intent to nominate” Ignacia S. Moreno to be Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division in the Department of Justice. Moreno, general counsel for that department during the Clinton administration, is now the corporate environmental counsel for General Electric, “America’s #1 Superfund Polluter“:

Number five in the Fortune 500 with revenues of $89.3 billion and earnings of $8.2 billion in 1997, General Electric has been a leader in the effort to roll back the Superfund law and stave off any requirements for full cleanup and restoration of sites they helped create.

This February, General Electric lost an eight-year battle to “prove that parts of the Superfund law are unconstitutional.” One of the 600-person DOJ environmental division’s “primary responsibilities is to enforce federal civil and criminal environmental laws such as” the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Superfund.

Before General Electric, Moreno worked as a corporate attorney at Spriggs and Hollingsworth. Moreno’s name is found in the Westlaw database as an attorney defending General Motors in another Superfund case, the GM Powertrain facility in Bedford, Indiana:

Historical uses and management of PCB containing hydraulic oils and PCB impacted materials has contaminated on-site areas as well as the sediment and floodplain soil within Bailey’s Branch and the Pleasant Run Creek watershed.

Although General Motors entered into an agreement in 2001 with the EPA to clean up the site, a number of local residents whose land has been contaminated by polychorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have sued for damages in Allgood v. GM (now Barlow v. GM), in a contentious and caustic dispute over cleanup, monitoring, and lost property values.

During the Clinton administration, Moreno was involved in another controversial case, unsuccessfully defending the Secretary of Commerce’s decision to weaken the dolphin-safe tuna standard. In Brower v. Daley, Earth Island Institute, The Humane Society of the United States, and other individuals and organizations brought suit against the United States government for actions that were “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and contrary to law,” winning their case in 2000.

UPDATE: Coal, Electric Industries Big Winners in Climate Bill Deal

Even as House Democrats are celebrating their deal with conservative-leaning colleagues on climate change legislation, the real winners under the compromise have been the coal, electric and auto industries, who are largely the source of the nation’s carbon emissions to begin with.

Details of the compromise are still emerging, but already the chief sponsors of the measure — Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) — have been forced to lower carbon-reduction targets, cut renewable fuel standards and dole out billions of dollars in benefits to the nation’s largest polluting industries. Many environmentalists say the compromise comes at the too-high cost of undermining the bill’s very purpose, which is to slash emissions dramatically enough to prevent a warming planet from heating further. Some are asking Democrats either to bolster the environmental protections or to scrap the proposal altogether. …

I wish I could laugh at you. But I’m too upset about Obama’s utter disregard for the issues precious to the Democratic party.

Had you idiots supported Hillary Clinton, you wouldn’t have had to worry about a Superfund attorney being appointed.

Hillary also made a promise to end presidential signing statements. And, unlike Obama, she meant it.

NoQuarter regulars: PLEASE — for the sake of the ignorant who voted for Obama — fill out a list of other issues on which the pro-Obama supporters could have counted on Hillary backing.

And if you Obama supporters still don’t have a CLUE, here’s why Obama will always side with the big corporations: Their executives have the MONEY he needs to win his elections. Forget that tripe about small donations — that was all a big lie, helped along by the likes of ACORN, in order to induce FOOLS into supporting Obama.

This past week, Bill O’Reilly took a shot at long-time White House correspondent Helen Thomas. As you all know, Ms. Thomas has been in the gaggle since Jack Kennedy. She’s been treated with respect most of that time. Yes, in the later years of George Bush, she was overlooked from time to time, but even then she was part of a great skit played at the National Correspondence Dinner which showed her stalking the president to get her answers.

But did O’Reilly address her question or her view? No, he said she reminded him of the “Wicked Which of the East”…who by the way,…we never see in the Wizard of Oz outside her feet under Dorothy’s house. Margaret Hamilton played the Wicked Witch of the West.

When he came under fire for this comment by women’s groups and Media Matters he tried to deflect it as, “I said she sounded like, as in her voice…not her appearance” (paraphased). Truth is, Helen Thomas didn’t sound anything like Margaret Hamilton, this was just typical Bill O’Reilly running from his record.

Additionally he ignores that he calls her that “old woman”, then proceeds to mock the idea that he’s an ageist or sexist.

So as usual he invites someone to help him defend himself only to attack the guest in the end. This time it was author Courtney Martin. After trying to run the whole interview, she maintained her ground and in the next segment, this time populated by two other men he says, “I’m right, aren’t I”?

But…enough of the reality of things…I had to get some cathartic release out about Bill O’Reilly’s penchant for bloviation and put it into artistic terms…Here’s the “Bill O’Reilly’s Attack on Helen Thomas – The Easy Teenage Dance Mix vol. 2″
Enjoy

Why didn’t they say this in their magazine BEFORE the election?

Yesterday I shared with you the audio of Tom Brokaw being interviewed by Charlie Rose where both men admit they don’t know who Obama really is or what he intends to do in office. Now, a post election admission from Jon Meacham and Evan Thomas of Newsweek; also interviewed by Charlie Rose. Audio is provided with commentary by Rush Limbaugh (transcript):

MEACHAM: You know, they don’t let him out. And have you ever seen a victory speech where there was no one else on stage?

ROSE: Mmm.

MEACHAM: No adoring wife, no cute kid. He is the messenger.

THOMAS: There is a slightly creepy cult of personality about all this. I mean, he’s such an admirable –

ROSE: Slightly. Creepy. Cult of personality.

THOMAS: Yes.

ROSE: What’s slightly creepy about it?

THOMAS: It — it — it just makes me a little uneasy that he’s so singular. He’s clearly managing his own spectacle. He’s a deeply manipulative guy.

RUSH: Now, let me tell you what they’re saying that they’re not saying. We’ve seen this before. We have seen this creepy cult of personality. We have seen this singular, managing his own spectacle. We’ve seen this deeply manipulative guy. We saw this before. They are scared. They are not saying that, but I hear fear. Here’s the next bite. Charlie Rose continues here with a question.

ROSE: Watching him last night in that speech, he finishes –

MEACHAM: Yeah.

ROSE: — and he sort of — it’s almost like he then ascends to look at the circumstance.

MEACHAM: He watches us watching him.

THOMAS: Watching him!

ROSE: Exactly!

THOMAS: He does –

MEACHAM: It’s amazing.

ROSE: It is amazing.

THOMAS: He writes about this metaphor being a screen upon which Americans will project. He said they want of Barack Obama; I’m not sure I am Barack Obama.

ROSE: Mmm!

THOMAS: He had — he has the self-awareness to know that this creature he’s designed isn’t necessarily a real person, and he’s self-aware enough –

ROSE: Ahhhhhh!

RUSH: Ahhhh. Charlie Rose, light goes on, ahhhh. Self-aware enough to know that this creature he’s designed isn’t necessarily a real person.

That is fear. These guys are looking at Obama and they’ve seen him the exact way we have, all of this time. They only now after they think they got him into office are now starting to talk about their fears about how nobody knows anything about him, his resume is thin, he’s only written two books, and they’re autobiographies, we don’t know what other books he’s read. Yes, we do.

We don’t know anything about him. It’s creepy, never seen a victory speech with nobody on stage — what is this making fun of Biden, by the way?

Locking Biden in the bar so he doesn’t come out? Look at all they hid. Look at all that they refused to report.

They had plenty of chances to write editorials at Newsweek magazine, and they didn’t write one reflective of what they really saw and know and fear about Obama.

At what point will Meacham and Thomas, along with Brokaw and so many others face the fact that they committed journalistic malpractice by hiding the character concerns they are only now sharing about Obama?

Were they just tooooo busy digging dirt on Sarah Palin’s children and Joe the Plumber to tell the American people what a “creepy,” “manipulative,” “creature” Obama is?

…………..

Read the original post and comments at Flopping Aces’ “Newsweek Editors: Obama a “Creepy,” “Deeply Manipulative,” “Creature”.

Barack Obama has a coal problem. Responding to yesterday’s revelation that Barack Obama intends to bankrupt all plants that operate on energy generated from coal, Chris Hamilton, the Senior Vice President of the West Virginia Coal Association, called Obama’s comments in San Francisco “unbelievable.” I quote the West Virginia Record:

The senior vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association called Obama’s comments “unbelievable.”

“His comments are unfortunate,” Chris Hamilton said Sunday, “and really reflect a very uninformed voice and perspective to coal specifically and energy generally.”

Hamilton noted other times Obama and vice presidential candidate Joe Biden have made seemingly anti-coal statements.

“In Ohio recently, when Joe Biden said ‘not here’ about building coal-fired power plants — this is exactly what will happen,” Hamilton said. “Financing won’t be directed here. It will all go aboard for plants elsewhere in the world. The United Sates is importing more coal today from Indonesia, South Africa and Colombia than we ever have.

“If we’re going to create a situation where coal-fired power plants are at that much of a disadvantage, there will be new ones built. But as Biden said, just not here.”

In other words, the workers of West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, Montana and all the other states in which coal is mined, processed and converted to electricity should be prepared to have their jobs outsourced under an Obama Presidency. That is not the change the economically battered Ohio River Valley needs. It is also not the change those of us who consume electricity need. Just imagine the cost of our energy bills if coal plants, which generates 49% of our electricity, are bankrupted and eliminated.

American Girl in Italy asks No Quarter readers to disseminate the following recording of Barack Obama’s statement on bankrupting coal plants far and wide.

And I offer more information on who will be affected by Obama’s reckless energy policy in an essay I published yesterday.

Clearly Obama’s statements will have electoral effects in West Virginia, where he has already garnered opposition from leaders of the industry that is that state’s main economic engine. But we must ensure voters in Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania are armed with these facts before they cast votes tomorrow.

Sarah Palin is doing everything within her power to ensure voters in the Ohio River Valley understand the implications and ramifications of Obama’s desire to bankrupt plants relying on energy produced from coal. I quote CBS News:

(MARIETTA, OHIO) – Seizing on a newly released audio tape picked up by the Drudge Report, Sarah Palin took the opportunity here in coal country to accuse Barack Obama of “talking about bankrupting the coal industry.”

“He said that, sure, if the industry wants to build coal-fired power plants, then they can go ahead and try, he says, but they can do it only in a way that will bankrupt the coal industry, and he’s comfortable letting that happen,” Palin said. “And you got to listen to the tape.”

The audiotape Palin was referring to was recorded by the San Francisco Chronicle in a Jan. 17 interview.

“Why is the audiotape just now surfacing?” Palin asked, leading someone in the crowd to shout, “Liberal media!”

“This interview was given to San Francisco folks many, many months ago,” Palin said. “You should have known about this, so that you would have better decision-making information as you go into the voting booth.”

Marietta, Ohio, is located on the Ohio River on the border between Ohio and West Virginia. This is the perfect place to discuss Obama’s desire to bankrupt the coal industry, for many of the workers in that city and its environs earn their wages in mines and in factories reliant on coal.

And Sarah and the audience in Marietta, Ohio, are correct: we only learned about this now as a result of the venal and obsequious media’s suppression of any and all information that is unfavorable to Barack Obama. Just witness CNN’s attempt to minimize the importance of this story:

Contrary to her attempts to portray a media cover-up, audio and video recordings of Obama’s January 17 sit-down with the Chronicle editorial board have been freely available online for more than nine months.

In the interview, Obama said that his “aggressive” cap-and-trade plan would charge polluters for every unit of carbon or greenhouse gas they emit, a plan that would render polluting coal plants financially unviable.

“So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can,” he said. “It’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.”

In the interview, Obama also made the case for alternative energy sources, adding that he does not believe coal production will be eliminated, and that he supports carbon capture and sequestration technologies.

John McCain also supports a market-based cap-and-trade proposal to reduce carbon emissions.

Regardless, Palin sought to use Obama’s words against him in a part of the country where coal has long been king.

“He said that, sure, if the industry wants to build coal-fired power plants, then they can go ahead and try, he says, but they can do it only in a way that will bankrupt the coal industry, and he’s comfortable letting that happen.”

The media, it seems, will not inform working class voters of Obama’s attempts to eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs and raise our electricity bills. But Sarah Palin and those who care about the economy of West Virginia and other states in the Ohio River Valley will. And so will we, for we understand that the elimination of jobs in a region of a country Obama already insulted with his comments in San Francisco about those bitter small town voters in Pennsylvania and Ohio who cling to guns and religion will not solve America’s economic woes. Indeed, it will only exacerbate the current recession.

Let us stand with West Virginia and the Ohio River Valley and defend those who rely on coal for their economic livelihood. This is certainly what Hillary would do. I quote the Sun-Times article I cite above:

After the quotes [about "bitter clingers"] surfaced on a political blog Friday, Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and GOP hopeful John McCain immediately decried them as evidence that Obama is “elitist” or “out of touch.”

“My opponent said that the people of Pennsylvania who faced hard times are bitter. Well, that’s not my experience,” Clinton told a crowd in Philadelphia. “As I travel around Pennsylvania, I meet people who are resilient, who are optimistic, who are positive, who are rolling up their sleeves … Pennsylvanians don’t need a president who looks down on them, they need a president who stands up for them.”

And yes, Barack Obama is an elitist politician who “looks down on” voters in the Ohio River Valley and in other areas of the country that rely on coal. Hillary Clinton does not, and neither does John McCain. Here is John McCain yesterday campaigning in Pennsylvania:

SCRANTON, Pa. — Campaigning in coal-rich Pennsylvania, GOP presidential nominee John McCain pledged this afternoon that if elected president, he would ensure that the U.S. exports coal overseas — something that U.S. policy already permits.

At the same time, the McCain campaign and Republican National Committee reportedly launched robocalls in Ohio, Pennsylvania and other coal states attacking Sen. Barack Obama’s position on coal.

Mocking Obama for a comment he made in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle in January — “The only thing I’ve said with respect to coal, I haven’t been some coal booster,” Obama had said — McCain promised the audience at the University of Scranton that he’s been a proud coal cheerleader in the past, and plans to be one in the future.

“My friends, you know what Senator Obama said about a year ago, he said he had not been a, quote, coal booster,” he said, as the crowd booed. “My friends, I’ve been a coal booster and it’s going to create jobs, and we’re going to export coal to other countries and we are going to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. That’s going to help restore the economy of the great state of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

The robocalls have been placed, but we must ensure the voters understand that Obama desires to bankrupt the coal industry and increase the prices of our energy bills. We have one day, and this must be done. Circulate the video I cite above.

———————————————-

[UPDATE]: Ohio Coal Association issues a scathing statement on Barack Obama’s statement. I quote:

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov 03, 2008 /PRNewswire–USNewswire via COMTEX/ — Mike Carey, president of the Ohio Coal Association (OCA), today issued the following statement in response to just-released remarks from Senator Barack Obama about the nation’s coal industry.

“Regardless of the timing or method of the release of these remarks, the message from the Democratic candidate for President could not be clearer: the Obama-Biden ticket spells disaster for America’s coal industry and the tens of thousands of Americans who work in it.

“These undisputed, audio-taped remarks, which include comments from Senator Obama like ‘I haven’t been some coal booster’ and ‘if they want to build [coal plants], they can, but it will bankrupt them’ are extraordinarily misguided.
“It’s evident that this campaign has been pandering in states like Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana and Pennsylvania to attempt to generate votes from coal supporters, while keeping his true agenda hidden from the state’s voters.

“Senator Obama has revealed himself to be nothing more than a short- sighted, inexperienced politician willing to say anything to get a vote. But today, the nation’s coal industry and those who support it have a better understanding of his true mission, to ‘bankrupt’ our industry, put tens of thousands out of work and cause unprecedented increases in electricity prices.

“In addition to providing an affordable, reliable source of low-cost electricity, domestic coal holds the key to our nation’s long-term energy security – a goal that cannot be overlooked during this time of international instability and economic uncertainty.

“Few policy areas are more important to our economic future than energy issues. As voters head to the polls tomorrow, it is essential they remember that access to reliable, affordable, domestic energy supplies is essential to economic growth and stability.”

The Ohio Coal Association (OCA) is a non-profit trade association representing the interests of Ohio’s underground and surface coal mining producers. The OCA represents nearly 40 coal producing companies and more than 50 Associate Members, which include suppliers and consultants to the mining industry, coal sales agents and brokers and allied industries. The Ohio Coal Association is committed to advancing the development and utilization of Ohio coal as an abundant, economic and environmentally sound energy source.

Representing 40 coal producing companies and more than 50 associate members in related industries, the OCA will deliver many Ohio votes to John McCain.

Words do matter, I guess.

Senator Barack Obama returns to his boorish behavior by flipping off Senator John McCain while obstensibly praising him at an event. As in past instances where he’s done this to Senator Hillary Clinton, the crowd gets it, even if the media chooses to ignore it.

Obama is a repeat offender.

Here he does the same to Senator Hillary Clinton on April 17, 2008:

Here he uses a derogatory gesture by brushing off Clinton in the manner of Jay-z:

Larry Johnson, among others at NoQuarter, has written at length on this. See his article, “When Obama Does It Repeatedly It Is a Strategy [Updated],” from September 11, 2008.

Here, Barack Obama talks about Senator Clinton “periodically” feeling down (sexist bastard):

And here’s another presidential moment for Senator Barack Obama. Further, note carefully that this is the music and content that Obama feels is appropriate for his own three-year-old daughter.

For more on this, see Larry Johnson’s article, “Obama, You Are Ludicrous,” from August 2, 2008.

On August 1, 2008, Uppity Woman, wrote “Doesn’t This New Obama Rap Crap Make You Feel So Proud?,” About Obama’s ties to his “genius friend” Ludacris:

:::::::::::::::

BELOW, IN FULL, THE BEST STORY WE EVER PUBLISHED on the reprehensible Jay-Z incident:

A whole lot of fuss has been made about Obama’s possible flipping of the middle finger to Hillary in response to his treatment during Wednesday’s debate as something less than Baby Jesus. If he in fact intended to flip her off, his gesture marks a new low in a campaign that was supposedly predicated on high-mindedness.

Obama’s invocation of Jay-Z’s defiant “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” battle anthem during the same speech adds evidence to the claim that he gave Hillary the finger.

To see Obama brush his shoulders off, go to 2:25 of this video clip.

Obama’s gesture prompted a mash-up video that made the Jay-Z/Obama connection explicit. Ari Melber, the other Obamabot named Ari at The Nation, posted the video on The Nation’s website, noting, “Obama really is a Jay-Z fan, too. When asked which hip hop artists he likes in a recent interview, he said, ‘lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Jay-Z — this new American Gangster album.’”

Spencer Ackerman, another young white male media Obamaton, called Obama’s gesture “perhaps the coolest subliminal cultural reference in the history of American politics.”

So what is the hype about? What did Jay-Z actually say that captivated Barack Obama?

Here is the hook and first verse to the new theme song of Obama ‘08:

[Chorus: Jay-Z]
If you feelin’ like a pimp nigga, go and brush your shoulders off
Ladies is pimps too, go and brush your shoulders off
Niggaz is crazy baby, don’t forget that boy told you
Get, that, dirt off your shoulder

[Verse One]
I probably owe it to y’all, probably to be locked by the force
Tryin to hustle some things, that go with the Porsche
Feelin no remorse, feelin like my hand was forced
Middle finger to the law, nigga grippin ma balls
Stab the ladies they love me, from the bleachers they screamin
All the ballers is bouncin, they like the way I be leanin
All the rappers be hatin, off the track that I’m makin
But all the hustlers they love it just to see one of us make it
Came from the bottom the bottom, to the Top of the Pops
Nigga London, Japan and I’m straight off the block
Like a running back, get it man, I’m straight off the block
I can run it back nigga cause I’m straight with the Roc
=

Obama hasn’t flipped a “middle finga to the law” but to Hillary instead (his godfather Tony Rezko and possible financial angel Nadmi Auchi were the ones flicking off the law). He got his clock cleaned in a debate about his closest associates, his domestic policy proposals and national security credentials, but after a quick, not-so-subliminal reference to Jay-Hova, Obama’s back to “feelin’ like a pimp.”

But don’t blame Obama if you don’t like his reaction. He’s never responsible. George Stephanopoulos and ABC forced him to behave like a wannabe American gangster.

Crank up those electric prices so they live in the dark while they shiver a lot, you SOB. Meanwhile, how come you drive an SUV?

Mr. “I Care”: Make poor people buy those $8.00 epilepsy and migraine triggering yellow-glowing light bulbs, and make them buy new fixtures where the bulbs won’t work– instead of eating. The ones that are mercury-toxic when they break. Whatever you do, don’t let people know that you nutballs passed a law to phase out incandescent bulbs in the near future to force people to use expensive toxic lighting. You took the mercury out of thermometers and now you want to riddle people’s homes with even more of it.

Your pictures are everywhere! Your face is everywhere! Just like Saddam Hussein and North Korea’s Dear Leader! Just like Stalin! Just like Mussolini! Just like Hitler.

Just like Big Brother. Just ask Joe The Plumber.

You deserve to wake up next Wednesday morning knowing it Sucks To Be You. May the rest of us escape your ambition-sucking, poverty-driving, government-dependent, Worship-Me Totalitarian Rule.

ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe Reports:

As Election Day looms just over two weeks away, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., said Saturday that with Republicans firing “vicious” and “dangerous” attacks at Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., voters are “having a difficult time” opting for the man who would become the nation’s first African American president.

Vicious and dangerous attacks? McCain/Palin are asking Obama to answer legitimate policy questions in re his revealing statement to Joe the Plumber that he wants to “spread the wealth around” and what that really means for Joe and Jane taxpayer.

They want Obama to explain to the American people why he launched his political career in the living room of unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers. They want him to acknowledge his role in our economic mess as he was one of the people who “voted present” on stronger regulations re Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They want to know the extent of Obama’s ties with ACORN – and it has already been proven that there are many.

What is vicious and dangerous about that? Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. These are questions any other candidate would have to answer. But, in another effort to change the subject, here is Joe-the-Senator at his finest:

“Undecided people are having a difficult time just culturally making the change, making the move for the first African American president in the history of the United States of America,” the Democratic vice-presidential nominee said at a San Francisco fundraiser Saturday evening. “So we need to respond. We need to respond at the moment, immediately, not wait, not hang around, not assume any of this won’t stick.”

Culturally? What is Biden trying to say here? Perhaps he is playing the race card just like Senator Obama did a couple of months ago when he said ‘I know I don’t look like the face of most of the guys you see on the dollar bill.’

Culturally? Is Biden implying that those who haven’t yet bowed before the messiah are racist? Oh, no he didn’t! Ironic he made these comments at – you guessed it – another San Francisco fundraiser. Oh, this is too good to be true. Say it ain’t so, Joe!

Did he really open his big fat yaw before the hoi polloi in San Francisco at a fund raiser – the same way Obama did when he made his infamous ‘bitter voter’ comments back in April? Did Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden really infer that undecided voters are having trouble voting for Obama because they are having trouble ‘seeing’ a bi-racial man in the White House?

Yep. Joe played the race card yet again. Tell me Senator Biden, did you have an indoctrination session at Camp Obama and did they use the Alinsky method in training you how to employ the race card as an argument to buffer any and all legitimate questions about your unqualified and dissembling candidate?

“You see these vicious attacks on Barack’s character,” Biden told supporters. “I mean, this is dangerous stuff these guys are doing. This stuff is on the edge. It’s on the edge. You know, there’s some folks out there in the community nationwide that aren’t as stable as others. It’s a very small minority. But having these rallies where people are showing up saying, you know, the things they’re saying – I don’t even want to repeat them — it’s not a healthy thing.”

Biden cited automated GOP calls describing Obama as having “worked closely” with “domestic terrorist Bill Ayers”.

He did work closely with Ayers. This is the truth. They have known each other for years. They have served on boards together. Obama profited by his association with Ayers, repeatedly. Hello. These are legitimate concerns.

He doesn’t want to repeat the “things they are saying?” Repeat what? Senator Biden, I am calling you out on the carpet and I dare you to look me in the eye and say this same crap. The FBI already debunked the nonsense that anyone called Obama a terrorist – they were calling Ayers a terrorist – which admittedly, he is – and an unrepentant one at that.

But Joe doesn’t have a problem with people walking around threatening violence against Sarah Palin or wearing T-shirts that say “Sarah Palin is a c*nt.” Nor does the Obama campaign have problem with their supporters in Florida calling a twelve year old child a racist for wearing a Sarah Palin T-Shirt.

Is that not dangerous, Joe? I guess you “don’t want to repeat” those comments either huh, Joe? Is that not a healthy thing?

Let’s pretend for the sake of argument, I am an undecided voter. Here is a sampling of a few of my concerns:

• His voting record – 130 present votes and 6 ‘wrong’ votes in the IL State Senate. His lack of moral courage and skipping out on or capitulating on important votes in the U.S. Senate. FISA chief among them.
• His daily playing of the race card to advantage himself.
• His 20 years of nefarious, crooked, and divisive business and personal associations with Rezko, Wright, Ayers, Auchi, Khalidi, Al Mansour, Pritzker, Jarrett, Pfleger, Meeks and more.
• His major policy reversals on critical issues, i.e., FISA, Israel, don’t ask don’t tell, public financing, NAFTA, Iraq, women’s rights, gun control; touting Bush’s faith based initiatives, and wanting to keep Blackwater going.
• His desire to spread the wealth around with economic policies that do not work.
• His illegal activities to win the primary, including over 2,000 documented instances of caucus fraud and blocking re-votes in MI and FL.
• His receiving huge contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the organizations at the center of our current economic mess.
• His lack of any governing, or executive experience and his lack of knowledge on critical issues of domestic and foreign policy – as he has demonstrated repeatedly on the campaign trail. Russia’s recent aggression on Georgia comes to mind.
• The fact that you can never get a straight answer from him on any of his policies or associations – just more double talk and distraction.

These are just a few questions that might be giving people pause at the voting booth. Please tell me – someone, anyone – what does that have to do with “cultural” predisposition; or more accurately, race bias?

Biden hit the Bay Area for three fundraisers Saturday, helping rake in an estimated $2.2 million for the campaign. At his second event of the day, in Piedmont, Biden predicted that the ticket will experience a drop in polls this week.

“Mark my words, you’re going to see these polls drop this week,” Biden forecasted. “We got a bump. We’re going to be in good shape. You’re going to see them drop. There’s nothing automatic about this at all.”

Obviously, Biden knows that Obama’s gaffe with Joe the plumber hurt them; rightfully so. And by gaffe I mean, Obama had a rare unscripted moment without his teleprompter and he told the truth for once about his policies and his attitudes. And for that he is now going to pay a legitimate price. So, once again, they are trying to distract the voters.

Joe the Plumber is certainly paying a price – Obama showed up on Joe’s front lawn at a campaign stop. Joe asked a simple question and for that his entire life has been invaded and turned up side down. Not only has Obama belittled Joe the Plumber, but the media is out for blood. And Joe-everyman-working-guy-coal-miner-six-term-Senator-elitist-Biden has derided him as well. Shame on him. Shame on them all.

Make no mistake – these attacks on Joe everyman are also costing the elitists Obama/Biden in the polls. To reassure their rich donors, Biden said:

“It costs tens of millions of dollars to do this. And that’s our secret weapon. That is our equalizer to when anybody talks about the Bradley effect. This is the ultimate equalizer.”

That is very much in evidence – in this no lose year for Democrats, Obama is spending obscene amounts of money saturating the TV market to “counteract the Bradley effect.” He does not dare to tell the truth to their rich donors. It is not the Bradley effect people are having a problem with – it is the Obama effect – the effect of a dishonest, secretive, inexperienced man taking office at one of the most difficult junctures in our recent history. But Biden boasted that Obama has the capacity to withstand GOP attacks and win the White House.

“Barack Obama communicates an absolute sense and certainty that is the most typical American instinct that there is,” Biden said. …”That’s why he touched those people helping feed us tonight.”

Elitist! Is Biden referring to the folks serving him his expensive 5-course dinner? How nice of Biden to refer to the people waiting tables at this expensive fundraiser. How does he know Obama has touched them – did he ever ask?? I doubt it. Elitists of all stripes have a bad habit of being encapsulated in their rarified air, so sure they know what is best for everyone else.

And here is the icing on the cake from Biden:

“I never thought I could be part of it – a part of seeing to it that we for the first and significant, fundamentally significant way, put a lot of that past behind us and began to unite the nation.”

Imagine trying to ‘guilt’ the American people into electing someone who is completely unqualified and unreliable as Commander in Chief. Obama has never stood up to his party. He has never expended any political capital on a tough vote. He has never done anything but move with the prevailing wind.

How can we rely on him when our backs are to the wall? Isn’t it possible that we are worried about whether this man can and will protect us and have our best interests at heart? He has shown no need thus far to come clean and answer the questions burning in the minds of many Americans. Why should we trust him if he clearly does not trust us?

If this is the way that Obama/Biden and the svengali race-baiting David Axelrod are uniting the nation, by inferring that anyone not voting for Obama is a racist, then I will pass on their kind of unity.

Senator Biden is indeed the gift that keeps on giving. I am sure John McCain hopes that both he and Obama will keep showing their true nature to the American people. It’s a winning strategy – for the Republicans.

Once again, in closing, I must say, shame on you, Senator Biden.

Shame on you.

They laugh at your voice, your accent. They make fun of how great you look, and how many kids you have. They smirk because you played the flute in a beauty contest, and strutted your stuff in a swimsuit. They say you’re dumb, you didn’t go to an Ivy League school, and God forbid you didn’t even have a passport until last year. You’re small town, from a small, unpopulated state, scrutinized, belittled, and scorned.

On the issues, you and I don’t agree.

But every time they laugh at you, they laugh at me. Every time they call you dumb, my I.Q. is questioned. When they make fun of you, they make fun of me. When they attack your family, they attack mine. When they comment on how you look, my looks are also ridiculed.

I am a Democrat. You are a Republican. But we share common ground because we are women, and in my book that means something. It means that we share a life experience, and a knowledge that bonds us. That makes us sisters in gender, if not in ideology.

I’ve never had a sister, so I’m not sure what that relationship involves. But I know what it means to have family, and when my family is attacked, bullied, or laughed at, I don’t take it lightly. Even if I disagree with my family’s way of thinking, you better believe I’ll be there for them, protecting and pushing back. Hard.

There are differences between us, Sarah. But there are some things in life that are bigger and more important. And differences really should never separate us, or cause us to disrespect one another, or call each other “less” or “other.” Audre Lorde (a very fine Black feminist of the second wave) said it best:

“We must recognize differences among women who are our equals, neither inferior or superior, and devise ways to use each others’ differences to enrich our visions and our joint struggles.”

There are those waiting for you to fail, Sarah. They want you to fall big time. They’re hoping like hell you get your ass kicked. But not me. I’m a woman, and that gender role trumps the D on my ballot anytime. Sorry, but it does. No one has ever taken advantage of me as a Democrat, but as a woman, yes. No one has ever paid me less as a Democrat, but as a woman, yes. No one has treated me inferior as a Democrat, but as a woman, yes. My dues have been paid as a woman, and not as a Democrat.

For this reason, I don’t want you to fail, Sarah.

Dear Sarah, dear sister. We are closer than you think. Not as a Democrat and Republican. But as much more—and with a stronger bond.

“We have chosen each other

and the edge of each others battles

the war is the same

if we lose

someday women’s blood will congeal

upon a dead planet

if we win

there is no telling

we seek beyond history

for a new and more possible meeting.”

Audre Lorde

The battle for November is bigger than the White House. The 21st century is upon us, and the goals are bigger now. The stakes higher. We’ve lived too many years—thousands of years following the ancient script. It’s time for a change, but real change. Not the change slogan of a male-driven marketing plan.

Lorde said it, and now, more than ever, it has truth:

“The future of our earth may depend upon the ability of all women to identify and develop new definitions of power and new patterns of relating across difference.”

Our differences, Sarah, are not what define us. Our power is what counts. We can respect our differences, acknowledge them, and move forward. For real change.

Our world needs it.

White House staff have met with both presidential candidates and their senior staffs to brief them on possible terrorist threats and current National Security issues between election day and January. Vetting of potential presidential staff members has also become–for both campaigns.

So what gets pimped all over the place by the Obama campaign? Not a story that both candidates have been briefed. Nope. This:

Senior Aides To Barack Obama have been meeting George W. Bush’s staff to begin planning a smooth transfer of power.

No kidding. You can’t make this shit up. How’s that for cocky?

…………………………………

From my blog, “Uppity Woman.”

Beginning November 5th he will of course follow protocol established in the primary and take over operation of the Executive Branch. He won’t kick GWB out of the Oval office but will continue to work at his Chicago HQ. The Electoral College and swearing in are just distractions that we don’t need to worry about in this time of great crisis.

Another distraction that needs to be addressed immediately is the problem of the 22nd. Amendment to the Constitution. That is the one which restricts even great Presidents like Obama to only 2 four year terms. Ratification by the States can take years therefore one of the first orders of business is to begin the repeal process. Concurrently, the process of amending Section 1 of Article II of the Constitution will begin.

On to the main point of this post. The New York Times is discussing a global approach to the financial crisis. Governments are beginning to cooperate in joint solutions that have never been considered before. We know this is due to the coming of Barack Obama. His world trip this summer, his presence alone began the process of uniting former foes who are already coming together to solve this horrid financial crisis. Just today, Israeli bankers sat down with Hamas which like so many good governments is facing bankruptcy. Rumors are that Israel will be accepting $5 billion in debt in order to keep their neighbors afloat.

If we have a single world solution to the crisis we must have one person in charge of implementing the programs. That is only logical and explains the Chicago pilgrimages various world leaders have begun to take. One or two obstinate countries may not be charter signatories but we are sure that on January 20, 2009 Barack Obama will begin the unification of the Planet Earth.

It is expected that following the Inaugural Invocation given by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and before the swearing in, over 160 world leaders will kneel down and swear their fealty to President Obama.

Originally posted at my home site Partizane.com

The Kicker:
“Where is my soundman? I am gonna have my soundman come out here, so everyone knows who messed up the sound.”
–Barack Obama expressing frustration over audio failures in Dayton, Ohio

On the campaign front. . .

                      - The Note, ABC News

So, is it true what they say about Obama? That he’s arrogant? Just askin’.

I guess that’s how you learn to treat the “common people,” isn’t it.

Ah, the perks of privilege.

You can treat people like a complete ass and nobody dares to say a word.

Except you readers.

Now, OPEN THREAD.

The “ugly frog” is a well-known routine that predates Karl Rove’s infamous “Rovian” tactics. Craig Crawford described the “ugly frog routine” this way:

[A] top Republican operative who specializes in electing weak candidates once explained to me how you derail a powerful foe who’s winning on issues. He called it the ugly frog routine.

Ugly frogs in this game can be anything that opposing candidates do or say that, out of context, puts them on the defense.

“Stick that frog right in their face, shake it all around, and say, ‘Here, look at this BIG UGLY FROG,’” the GOP consultant said. “Then, as they defend themselves and explain the context, real quick grab another ugly frog. Repeat often until they’ve spent most of the campaign reacting to your agenda.”

Crawford pointed out something that McCain has been very good — and consistent in exploiting this routine. McCain’s primary routine has been to point out that Barack Obama is an elitist, rock star, out-of-touch Democrat!

John McCain’s team has been playing the ugly frog routine against Barack Obama almost daily, starting with the Paris Hilton celebrity advertisement, forcing the Democrats to react to a barrage of silly attacks.

Do you remember this?

Craig asked the “dark operative” how to combat the routine:

“Get your own frogs,” he said. “Stay off defense.”

Whether it is the ugly frog routine or getting Obama’s “achille’s heel,” as I call it, McCain has it over Obama. McCain’s tactics are keeping Obama off his game, not knowing where to find his own “ugly frogs”. Obama scrambled to find his own “ugly frog” but came up with one that back-fired:

This ad drew strong criticism of Obama, as Uppity Woman pointed out in “Obama Makes Fun of McCain’s Disabilities in Ad.”

Well, Obama’s first “ugly frog” died. I guess he will have to try again, if he can just find another one!

Obama flipped on the troop surge again or is it again? Can we count the flips, I’ve lost count? I will tell you this, we decorated flip flops on the way to Denver, writing all of Obama’s flips on them, we ran out of room! Sorry no more flip flops to spare! I have no idea how many times he flipped but here goes in his own words,

Earlier Thursday, in taping a segment for Fox’s “O’Reilly Factor,” Obama said the surge of U.S. troops has “succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.”

But back in July, Fox News reported that Obama downplayed the troop surge. Here is what Obama said on the troop surge (in my opinion he is dissing the troops and their commanders.) back when? July….2007, 2008

…he (Obama) credits the surge with helping to reduce violence in Iraq it “doesn’t meet our long-term strategic goal.” (What is the long term goal Obama?)

Asked about that comment, Obama said in his latest interview with CBS News that “there’s no doubt” spending billions a month in Iraq and sending extra troops will “have an impact.”

“But it doesn’t meet our long-term strategic goal, which is to make the American people safer over the long term,” he said, repeating his argument that the resources spent in Iraq are detracting from U.S. efforts in Afghanistan.

And then Obama said this….

…”the argument was and continues to be: When are we going to turn over responsibility to the Iraqis for their own country? When are they going to resolve their political differences?”

That will happen when he (When who is president, McCain?) is president, Obama said, “because we are going to withdraw our troops” and, while giving Iraqis support, “we are going to bring this war to a close.” (Does that mean we are going to win the “war” or cut and run like we have done so many times before?)

You’re killing me Obama…..I am laughing so hard my ribs are killing me! We have already turned over 11 regions, the latest Anbar!

Here’s the exchange with O’Reilly:

Doesn’t Obama read the papers? (Ahem! the sound bite I saw of the O’Reilly interview didn’t mention this change!) It was recently reported that the Anbar Region in Iraq has been turned over to the Iraqis….yes you heard me right….Anbar Region is now under control of the Iraqis. Here is more news from The Christian Science Monitor on that milestone for the region.

The US military handed over control of Anbar Province Monday, marking a significant milestone in the Iraq war.

Anbar was the deadliest Iraqi province for US troops, with nearly 1 in every 3 Americans killed there. It was once the symbol of Sunni resistance, the base of operations for Al Qaeda, and home to two major US military offensives and the most intense urban combat of the war.

But in the past two years, Anbar has emerged as the symbol of a turnaround as Sunni sheikhs formed “Awakening Councils,” ousted Al Qaeda, and created community police forces.

Anbar is the 11th of Iraq’s 18 provinces to return to Iraqi control, but it is the first predominately Sunni province handed over.

Where in the hell has Obama been? I know campaigning….the same excuse he used for not holding one hearing on Afghanistan!

Wake up and smell the coffee…stop eating the arugula and actually read the papers on the table next to you when you ride in that big plane of yours! You might just learn a thing or two!

Oh! Yeah right! I forgot you told that guy in Britain that you will need time off as president so you can think! And so far that has escaped…..you!

• “Does he wear a flag pin on his lapel? Yes, but not always. Like many presidential candidates, sometimes he wears a flag pin, sometimes he wears a breast cancer awareness pin, sometimes he wears his U.S. Senate membership pin and other times he wears no pin at all.”

• “Is he a Christian? Yes. He is a committed Christian. In 1985, he began working as a community organizer with a Christian church-based group seeking to improve the living conditions in poor Chicago neighborhoods.”

The mailer missed the mark! It reminds of us those rumors, that he is unpatriotic and a Muslim, rather than dispels them. Once again our family, friends and neighbors will be discussing the rumors anew.

Here is the second mailer. Part of this mailer has an older white woman saying “I am voting for the candidate who will fix our health care system.” Today, it was revealed that a health care plan backed by the AFL-CIO and SEIU may derail Obama’s healthcare plan.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcdnlNZg2iM[/youtube]

And now this on a union backed health care plan is called “guaranteed affordable choice”. More on that:

If SEIU and the AFL-CIO get their way, the day that all Americans have affordable insurance will be pushed into the unforeseeable future.

The labor-backed plan, which they call “guaranteed affordable choice,” would create a public program like Medicare that would allegedly compete with the nation’s 1,500 insurance companies. Americans would get tax-financed subsidies to purchase insurance from either a private insurance company or the public plan. Competition, which has never worked in the health insurance industry, would magically come to life.

By leaving the bloated insurance industry smack in the middle of our health care system, “guaranteed affordable choice” would have taxpayers and premium-payers continuing to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on unnecessary administrative costs.

The other two faces on the mailer show white older males, one a retiree and one still employed. It will evoke memories of the comments spoken in front of wealthy donors in San Francisco. Here are Obama’s exact words:

“You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them,” Obama said. “And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

And of course we will be reminded of Obama’s stance on NAFTA. Or were those just words and he didn’t mean it?

“While Senator Obama was telling voters he would fix NAFTA, his chief economics advisor was telling Canadians that his position was just words.

The AFL-CIO wasted their money and time. The AFL-CIO needs to go back to the drawing board on these mailers! If the mailers evoke these memories in me, what will they do for the union members and the bitter people living in Pennsylvania? All those campaign gaffes during the primaries will haunt Obama’s dream again, while I sleep peacefully at night!

So these must be the “Green Jobs” Barack Obama is thinking about. A couple of hundred thousand consultants. Wonderful. It’s a great way to hire and boost the income of friends and family though. That doesn’t include You, suckers. Just so you know.

While most Americans find that what once was their disposable income is now used to barely feed their families with whatever is on “special” this week at the supermarket (healthy or not), the Democratic Party “of The People” is defining other priorities for them. What will the DNC do for the American people at the convention? Why they are going to make sure that Prissy Barack Obama has his arugula, I am sure. But they won’t stop there. No sir.

They have hired a Director Of Greening. No kidding. That’s the title. You can’t make this shit up.

What’s environmental activist Andrea Robinson’s job as Director of Greening, you ask?

Robinson will work to find ways to make the preparation and conducting of the convention as environmentally friendly as possible, said Leah Daughtry, the Democratic National Convention Committee chief executive, speaking at the committee’s third “Convention Conversations” forum in Boulder.

Does anybody here, after having just returned from an actual day’s work, understand what this….um…means?

Whatever it means, Andrea can’t do this job all by herself. No sir. She has hired a firm to serve as Official Carbon Advisor to:

“measure the greenhouse-gas emissions of every placard, every plane trip, every appetizer prepared and every coffee cup tossed.”

No offense, DNC, but no wonder you can’t keep any money in your coffers.

I wonder if this woman was involved in the legislation that phases out all incandescent lighting by 2012, thus facilitating as many migraines and epileptic seizures as possible. You know about those fluorescent lighting replacements don’t you? They aren’t quite finished yet folks, as in “back to the drawing board, please”. They contain mercury which can cause brain, kidney and liver damage. Then there are those folks who prefer not to burn their homes down with halogens, but ah, screw them too. Just so you know: if you break a fluorescent curly bulb you are supposed to evacuate the entire room for 15 minutes and close off any ventilation. Bet you didn’t know that huh? I threw one out before I found this out. How the hell did I know that the environmentalists are encouraging me to use something that’s hazardous to my and everyone else’s health? I thought they were supposed to be protecting me. Anyways, you should know that if you live in an apartment, you must call down to maintenance to turn off the air conditioning if you break one of those bulbs. Good luck with that. *The EPA has a whole warning page about these bulbs folks. You would think that all of these environmental “consultants” would first insist that these replacement bulbs we will be REQUIRED to use would at least be safe to humans. But nahhhhhhh. It seems like a fair tradeoff for these nutballs, right? And they will look great in the family heirloon chandeliers! Why I just BET Michelle Obama will be sticking those ugly yellow-lighting little bastards in HER chandelier over at the Hyde Park homestead, don’t you? I wonder what the Director Of Greening thinks about all of this?

Ok I digressed. I can do that. It’s my blog.

Back to the Greening of the Convention, I know that this makes you all feel a lot better economically. I know it makes you feel much more secure knowing that the Democratic Party is in tune with your most pressing needs at this time. They want you to know they Care. I know that having a Green Convention will help you to fill up the tank, catch up on last month’s bills and make you feel included along with the left-cliff radical whackjobs who are sponsoring The Incandescent One. (We will have to change that to the Flourescent One in 2012).

It’s good to know that the Democratic Party is thinking of us at all times, don’t you agree? A Green Convention. Whoa, Thanks guys! So what if you have shoved a duplicitous pandering sack of crap down our throats as our “nominee”? We are going to let that pass because your convention will be Green!

I suppose we should at least be grateful that they haven’t assigned Ministers of Plenty and Truth. Yet.

As a side note, I also suspect that if the food is going to be doled out according to Ms. Anderson’s specifications, Donna Brazile is going to be showing up with a HUGE tote bag full of fried stuff she can scarf down in the ladies’ room. Considering her…ah…. constitution, I hardly envision her going for the ratatouille.

* EPA on CFLs

CFLs More Dangerous Than First Thought